A Path Less Traveled
by Green-Eyed-Wolf9324
Summary: Anna Winchester fights to find her place in the world and in her family of three men, who are all hunters. Rated M for spanking.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Anna Winchester fights to find her place in the world, and in her family of three men, who are also hunters. Rated M for spanking.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. I only own Anna.

Chapter 1:

_"Never stop hoping_  
_ Need to know where you are_  
_ But one thing's for sure_  
_ You're always in my heart_"

_- Within Temptation -_

_Something was wrong. The air around me was too calm, too still, to the point where it was eery. Darkness enclosed me as a heavy fog pressed down and settled around me. Something, definitely, was not right.  
_

_"Hello?" I called out, my voice wavering with fear. Did I even want an answer? Who was out there, and if there even was anyone, were they good, or bad? "Is anyone out there?" Where was I? I had never been to this place before.  
_

_There were doors lining the room, but when I tried them, they didn't open. I was becoming more and more frightened by the minute, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck rising, goosebumps erupting up and down my arms and legs. I was not alone, I could feel it. _

_"Who's there!" I demanded, trying to sound intimidating, only to have my voice turn into a pathetic squeak, muffled by the fog. I looked around the room, realizing that nothing was in color. Everything was in black and white. That was strange. A door creaked open to my right. I turned to face it quickly, breathing unevenly. Someone, or something, was coming through. _

_"What do you want!" I yelled at it, when it just stood there in the doorway. My legs had started to shake, making me unbalanced on my feet.  
_

_"Anne-ahhh." It said, and I covered my mouth with a hand, squeaking in terror. It's slow, drawn out version of my name in a raspy voice made my blood run cold. "Anne-ahh!" it said again, this time a little faster, and more forcefully. It walked forward, and I stood shaking in my place, too terrified to move. When it got closer, it started to become clearer. A man, tall and broad. _

_I tilted my head to the side, removing my hand from my mouth as it stood in front of me. It was my father. John Winchester. _

_"Anna!" he said again, this time more urgent and clear. I jumped, _and looked around. I was laying on my bed in yet another crappy motel room.

My heart was racing as I sat up. My hair was plastered to my forehead with sweat, and my hands were cold and clammy. The terror I felt in my dream was lingering with me, slowly ebbing away, but not entirely. My father, who usually slept in the bed beside me, was not there. But he hadn't been there for the past few days. He was on a hunt.

The bed, which should have been occupied with my older brother Dean, was empty. I threw the covers off my legs, getting to my knees on the bed, looking around the room. It was still dark outside, which meant it was very early in the morning. The clock on the night table read four thirteen. Why wasn't he in his bed?

"Dean?" I called out, feeling my heart rate quicken once again. The door to the bathroom was open, and the light was off. Everything in the motel room was dark, except for the dim night light I had plugged into the wall.

Eleven years old, and I still used a night light at night. But if you knew of the things that were out there, you would use one too.

"Dean?" I slid off the bed and almost dove to the floor as the door to our room opened. I was crouched between the beds, frozen, as Dean stepped into the room, flipping his phone shut.

"Anna?" He called out gently, and I let out a relieved breath, standing up. I could see him cock his head to the side as he watched me emerge from my hiding place. "What are you doing?"

I quickly ran over to him, throwing my arms around his waist. The uncomfortable, uneasy feeling I had ever since waking up had died down a little. My impact made Dean's breath come out in a loud 'Oof'.

"What's wrong? I heard you calling my name." Dean said, pulling away so that he could look at me as best he could in the dark room.

"Dean, something's wrong! Dad, he's . . . he's in trouble or something!" I stammered out

"What?" Dean knelt in front of me, grabbing a hold of my shoulders. "Anna, did Dad just call you?"

"No, I had a dream-"

"A dream?" Dean interrupted, his tone sounding disappointed.

"Yes! A dream, and-"

"Anna," Dean sighed, standing up and running a hand through his hair, "It was just a dream. Dad's fine. He's out hunting and he'll be back soon."

"It wasn't just a dream! He really is in trouble, Dean! We have to do something!"

"Alright," Dean said, turning me around by my shoulders then marching me back over to my bed. "You need to calm down. It was just a bad dream, probably from eating all those cupcakes before bed and watching that movie-I knew that was a bad idea." He added in after thought. "Come on, let's get back to bed."

I stepped aside from his guiding hand and knocked it away, frustrating rising in me. Why wouldn't he listen to what I was trying to tell him? Did he not understand how important this was?

"You're not listening to me!" I snapped loudly, which seemed to get his attention. He stopped and looked at me. "This wasn't like a normal dream, Dean. It was different, it felt real! I don't know how, but Dad found a way to get into my dream and-" I stopped, feeling like nothing I was saying was making any impact on Dean what-so-ever.

I plopped down on my bed, putting my face into my hands in frustration. Why did adults have to be so logical? Why couldn't they listen to you when you and believe that strange, unexplainable things could happen? Especially ones that spend their entire life knowing strange, unexplainable things.

"He hasn't called in three days, Dean." I said, my tone laced with the fear and apprehension that I felt. It wasn't that Dad called every two seconds while he was away, sometimes he would go a good week without calling, but for some reason, this just felt wrong.

Dean sat down beside me, pulling me against his side.

"He's probably just busy, Anna." He assured me. "It's only been three days."

"I know somethings wrong! I'm worried about him, and you should be too!"

"Okay, how about this, if Dad doesn't call by tomorrow night, I'll start checking around."

"We need to check now, Dean!" I insisted, reaching for my cell phone on the bed side table. Dean took my phone from my hands before I could even dial the first three numbers. "Hey!"

"Anna, enough."

I looked at Dean through hurt eyes. Why didn't he believe me? I watched him place my phone back on the night table, the gestured for me to lay back down.

"Come on. Back to bed." He said with a no-nonsense tone. I bit my bottom lip to refrain from arguing, and resigned myself to my pillow and blankets. Dean pulled them back up to my shoulders, then brushed my hair gently away from my face. "You don't have to worry about Dad. He can take care of himself. Soon enough he'll be back home barking orders around like he never left."

I knew that was supposed to cheer me up, to make me smile, or even laugh. But it didn't. I rolled over on my side so that I was facing away from him, keeping my mouth shut. I was not impressed.

"Anna," Dean sighed, and I knew he was probably shaking his head at me. I didn't care though. He didn't believe me. "I'll wake you up for school."

He kissed my head then I felt his weight lift off the mattress, and soon, his bed creaked as he got into it.

~ . ~

Two more days went by without any word from my Dad. I had a hard time sleeping at night, and I wasn't focusing in school at all. My teacher kept calling on me and I was always either dazed or falling asleep on my desk. It got so bad the second day, that when I finally realized she was calling my name, the entire classroom was staring at me. She asked me to stay after the bell rang, so I sat in my desk while everyone left with their coats and backpacks on. I had mine sitting beside me on the floor.

"Anna, come up here please." My teacher said once the room was clear. She was writing something when I approached her, and a few seconds later, she signed it, then placed it in an envelope and handed it to me. "I would like you to give this to your father when you get home tonight."

"He not home." I said blankly. "He's away on a trip. It's just me and my older brother."

My teacher opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. I reached to grab the letter, and she seemed to get a hold of her voice once again.

"Well, show this to your brother, then. I expect you to bring it back tomorrow, signed, okay?"

I nodded, and she allowed me to take the letter from her hand. I gave her a forced smile, then turned and walked silently from the room, ignoring the 'Good-bye' that she called to me.

Usually, I would be worried about giving my brother a letter from school. The only times I've ever had a letter sent home from school, were times when I did something I shouldn't have, and really regretted it later. But this one, I didn't really care about. I pretty much knew what it would be about, and I wasn't concerned. At least, I knew Dean wouldn't get angry with me if I was right about what it said.

My bus was just about ready to leave when I made it outside, so I ran over to it and knocked on the door. My bus driver looked at me, then shook his head, opening the door.

"We got a schedule to go by." He reminded me. "Next time I'm not waiting."

"Okay." I said, sitting down in the front seat by the door. I placed my backpack in my lap and leaned forward, resting on it. I was so tired, and I had until the last stop to get off. Kids shuffled by me every few minutes, and soon the bus was quiet as I was the only one left. When we pulled up in front of the motel, I stood up and waited for him to stop and open the door. "Thank you." I said to him as I got off.

Dean's car was parked outside, which meant there was a good possibility that he was home. I took my key out of my pocket and used it to open the door. As I walked in, Dean snapped his cell phone closed and slipped it in his pocket.

"Hey." He said. I walked over to him and handed him the letter that my teacher gave me. "What's this?" He asked, eying me suspiciously. I shrugged, putting my backpack on the table and going over to sit on my bed, taking my cell phone out of my pants pocket and opening the tetris game that was on it. Dean was silent for a few moments as he read the letter, and I focused on beating my high score.

When he was done, Dean sighed, wiping a hand down his face. He folded the letter back up and dropped it on the table.

"It's been two days, Dean." I said before he could say anything to me. "I want to call Dad."

Dean was silent for a moment, so I put exited my game and looked up at him.

"I mean it, Dean. I want to call him now."

"Yeah, I know." Dean came over and sat down beside me on the bed. "But he's not going to answer, Anna."

"Well we can try!" I pushed.

"No, what I mean is-I called around, and no one else has heard from him either. Bobby hasn't, Rufus hasn't, not even Pastor Jim."

"I told you something was wrong, Dean!" I yelled, immediately getting upset. I smacked him on his arm as I said that, and then pushed myself off the bed, walking over to where my duffel bag was on the floor. "We have to go find him! We have to start looking!"

"Anna," Dean said, getting up and coming over to where I was anxiously shoving my clothes. "Anna." I ignored him, until he put his hand on my arm, stopping me from what I was doing. I turned to look at him, expectantly. "We're not going to find Dad."

"W-what do you mean, Dean?"

"No, calm down, it's not like that." Dean soothed as he noticed I was starting to get upset. "I mean, we can't do this alone. We're going to go find Sam."

"Sam?" I said, as if that was a foreign concept to me. I hadn't seen Sam since I was seven, four years ago. I hadn't talked to him in over a year. He even stopped sending me cards and gifts. I never got a birthday card this year. "But . . . he's not going to help." I said sadly. "Sam doesn't want us anymore."

"Well, when I go talk to him he will." Dean assured me, removing his hand from my arm. "We're going to get Sam, and we're going to find Dad. But we have to leave now because it's about a days worth of driving to get to him."

I nodded, frantically, then started to pack again.

"I'm going to email your teacher back and let her know you won't be in for a few days." Dean told me as he sat down at the table, opening his laptop. "She was concerned about you, you know. Said you've been really out of it, not participating or doing any of your classwork."

I paused in my packing, wondering how I should respond to him. I didn't say anything, but continued to pack.

"She even asked if there was something going on at home that might be affecting your schooling."

I got up from my duffel bag which was finally packed with all my clothes. I looked at Dean briefly, before glancing down to the floor.

"Come here." Dean said, holding a hand out to me. I went over slowly and let him pull me into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face into his shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay, Anna. We're gonna find Dad."

"Promise?" I asked tearily, pulling my head back so I could look him in the eye. He hesitated for a moment, his jaw clenching, before he nodded.

"I promise." he patted my butt and said, "Now finish getting your stuff. Let's hit the road."

~ . ~

Car rides with Dean were hardly ever boring. At least when it was just the two of us. Dean let me sit in the front seat, and he gave me his box of tapes so that I could pick which one to put in. All his tapes were by artists like ACDC or Metallica. I didn't mind though. Sometimes I wished he would let me listen to people I liked, but I never complained.

We played games and there were always yummy snacks to eat.

"Is it a orange?" Dean asked.

"No!" I giggled. "That's twenty! You lose!"

"Well then what was it?"

"It was a kumquat!" I laughed hysterically, rocking back and forth in the seat.

"A what? What the hell is a kumquat?" Dean demanded.

"It's a fruit!"

"That's-you cheated! You can't pick things I don't know!"

"How was I supposed to know you don't know what a kumquat is? Everyone knows what a kumquat is!" I defended, smiling at him. Dean glanced over at me, then his right hand came off the steering wheel and was tickling my sides. I was saved after a few seconds, when his phone rang.

"Shit." He said, tapping his pockets as he tried to find it. "Anna, you see my phone?" I looked on the floor as it continued to ring. I found it on the floor and as I reached for it, the ringing stopped. I opened it and saw on the screen that it was a missed call from Dad.

"Dean! That was Dad!" I practically yelled, turning to face him. The phone beeped, and another message popped up saying that there was one new voice mail.

"Let me see that." Dean said, taking it out of my hand. I watched intently as he pressed some buttons then put it up to his ear. His expression changed into a look that didn't quite seem right.

"What happened?" I asked. "Is he okay? What's wrong? Where is he?"

Dean didn't answer me, instead he dialed some numbers, then held it up to his ear. He was silent for a few moments, then cursed, flipping it shut and sliding it back in his pocket.

"Dean?"

"He's fine, Anna." Dean told me shortly.

"But where is he?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

"Is something wrong?"

"Anna!" Dean snapped, holding his hand out firmly. "Enough."

I crossed my arms over my chest angrily, and turned to look out the window.

"Well you don't need to be a jerk." I mumbled. I hated it when Dean didn't tell me things, but that's pretty much how it's always been. I never get in on any of the details of what's going on with anything or anyone. Sometimes, when things get really bad though, I get sent to Pastor Jim, or Uncle Bobby, and that's when I know sometime is really wrong. They don't have to tell me then.

"I want to listen to the voice mail."

"Not a chance."

"Well then I'm just going to call him!" I argued, taking my phone out of my pocket and flipping it open.

"No you're not." Dean challenged in a firm voice.

"He's my Dad, I can call him if I want!" I cried angrily.

"Susannah Lee Winchester." Dean started, and I knew I was really going to be in for it. He hardly ever used my full name. "If you don't put the damn phone away right now, I will pull this car over."

"It's not fair!" I whined, holding it firmly between both hands, safely between my legs. "Why can't I call him? It's not like it's going to kill him!"

"Because I said so, that's why! Now put it away or I'm pulling over."

I held it in my lap for a moment, weighing my options with gritted teeth.

"Fine." I snapped, shoving it back into my pocket. I unbuckled my seat belt and began crawling into the backseat. "I'm going to sleep."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

I grabbed my pillow and blanket off the floor and stuffed it onto the seat, slamming my head onto it and covering myself with angry, jerky, movements. I loved Dean with all my heart, but sometimes he was a real jerk. I hated it when he treated me like a child, like I couldn't handle hearing the truth of what was going on.

I closed my eyes, remembering the last time I saw Dad a few days ago. I thought about the hug he gave me before he left, and the kiss that tickled my face from his beard. I remembered the dream I had, and the feeling of fear and dread that I had from it. I pulled my blanket closer to my chin and tried to think of other things, like what it would be like when we got to Sam's.

Maybe, Sam would decide to come with us. Maybe, Sam would decide to help. Maybe, we would find Dad, and be a happy family again. Maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

When Dean and I finally arrived at Stanford University, it was four in the afternoon. I was reading a teen magazine that Dean got me at a gas station a few towns over when we stopped for gas. I had been doing the quizzes in the back when Dean put the car in park and turned it off. I looked up to see where we were, and my mouth opened wide at the amount of people walking around. It wasn't just the fact that there was a lot of people, but it was more of the fact that they were all dressed up in costumes.

"Dean!" I said, turning to him. "It's Halloween!"

I had completely forgotten about Halloween, what with worrying about Dad. Dean had brought me trick-or-treating every year since I was seven. I think it was because once Sam had left for school in September, I had become really bummed out, and I didn't want to do anything. Since we didn't really celebrate most holidays because of being on the move and such, Dean figured it would be something I enjoyed.

I loved it. Dean got me a princess costume and drove us to a fancy neighborhood somewhere, where we parked the car and walked around. I got so much candy that night. I think even Dean had fun. I made him wear a kings crown so that he would be dressed up too. The next year we did the same thing, and the year after that, and the year after that.

"I guess it is." Dean said. Suddenly, all the thoughts about finding Sam had gone out of my head. I turned to look at Dean, giving him the best puppy dog look I could come up with.

"Dean? Can we _please _go trick-or-treating?" I clasped my hands together and knelt on the seat next to him. "Please?"

Dean looked out the window at all the college kids walking around. Before he looked back or said anything, his expression suddenly changed and he leaned closer to the window, focusing on something outside. I turned my attention to the direction he was looking, and my eyes widened when I saw Sam. It was kind of hard to miss him. He was so tall and had dark hair. I guess it was because he was my brother, but I could pick him out of any crowd.

He was with a girl with long blond hair, and boy was she dressed pretty-well. . .

"Sam, you dog." Dean muttered under his breath, and I knew he was impressed. They talked to some boy dressed up in a creepy costume, then turned and headed off down the street. Dean and I stared in silence after them. When they were out of sight, I turned to Dean.

"So. . . trick-or-treating?" I asked hopefully.

~ . ~

Dean agreed to bring me trick-or-treating for a few hours, figuring Sam was going out, and he wanted to talk to him alone. Dean drove me to the nearest Walmart, where I bought a pair of cowboy boots from the shoe section, a pair of jeans, and a plaid button down shirt. Then I found a cowboy hat in the costume section. Dean put my hair in braided pigtails for me when we got back to the car.

We walked around the neighborhood getting candy until most people started to turn their lights off. By then, it was getting to be around ten at night. I had collected a full pillowcase of candy as well as the plastic Walmart bag.

"Alright, let's head back to Sam." Dean said as I walked down the driveway of one of the last houses with their light on.

"Okay." I replied happily. I was going to have so much candy to eat in the car rides the next few days. This was going to be awesome.

I sat in the backseat of the car as we drove back to Stanford, dumping my candy out onto the seat so I could check it for rips or tears in any of the packaging. Dean told me that I had to check all my candy before I ate any, in case someone opened it and put something in it. He said you never know what crazy people might poison someone's candy, or worse, put a razor blade in it. When he said that, I almost threw away all my candy the first year I went trick-or-treating.

"Hey Dean," I said as I unwrapped a snickers bar and took a bite.

"What's up, sweetheart?"

"What if Sam won't talk to you? Or, what if he won't come out to see me?"

Dean told me that he wanted me to wait in the car while he went in to talk to Sam, and that he would bring him out to the car. I don't know why I wasn't allowed inside, but I didn't see the point in arguing.

"I'm sure he'll come out to see you. I bet he's missed you like crazy."

"Then why hasn't he called?" I asked, hurt.

"I don't know. I guess you'll have to ask him that."

I slumped against the seat and chewed thoughtfully on my candy bar. Sam looked happy when he was with his friends today. Really happy. For some reason, it made me sad to see him so happy. I didn't know why, but it was like I didn't want to see him happy here. I would rather see him miserable, and missing us.

"Hey," Dean caught my attention, and I looked up from my hands where I had been folding the empty candy wrapper over and over in my hand, realizing that he was parked on the side of the road outside the student housing once again. "Don't look so sad. You have to show Sam we've had the time of our lives and make him wish he was with us." Dean joked.

"It looks more like he's having the time of his life, though." I sighed, tossing the wrapper back into the pillow case of candy. "Why did he have to leave, Dean? Why weren't we good enough for him?"

Tears started to form in my eyes, and I wiped them angrily with the back of my wrist. Dean reached over the seat and put his hand on my knee.

"Don't blame yourself for this, Anna. None of this had anything to do with you. This was all Sam. Okay?"

I sniffled and focused on a spot on the back of his seat.

"I'm gonna go get him. Keep your phone on you."

I nodded wordlessly as Dean turned back around and opened his door. For a while, I couldn't think what would be worse-Dean coming back without Sam, or coming back with him. I was so confused as whether or not I wanted to see him. It hurt when Sam left to go to college. It was a huge fight between him and Dad. They were yelling loudly back and forth at each other. I was so scared. I was hiding in the corner, covering my ears and crying. Dean had to take me out of the room and brought me to a diner down the road where he got me a hot chocolate and himself a coffee.

When we got back a few hours later, Sam was gone. He left a note saying goodbye, but that was it. Dad left when we got back, too angry to talk to either of us. I cried myself to sleep in Dean's arms that night. I didn't quite know exactly what was going on at the time, but all I knew was that Sam was gone, and Dad was angry. I didn't know how long Sam would be gone, or what was going to happen.

Sam didn't call until Thanksgiving after he left. When he called though, I talked to him for hours, until Dean told me that it was getting late and I had school in the morning. I made Sam promise to call me at least three times a week. He did for a while. Then it went down to twice a week, then once a week, then about three times a month. Soon, he called every few weeks, until he stopped calling completely. He didn't answer any of our calls when we called him back.

Now I was starting to wonder if it was because he found that girl, or if he just got tired of talking to us, and realized that there was more out there for him than what we could offer. We would never be enough for him. Sam didn't want this life.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up. Dean had texted me, saying that he was coming out with Sam now. My heart started to pump faster, and I thought for a moment if I should run or not. It was a stupid idea, I realized after a few seconds, but I was so anxious. Instead, I opened the car door and got out, going to the back of the car to sit on the trunk.

I heard them before I saw them. Once they got close enough for Sam to notice me, he stopped walking. He stood there looking at me, and I sat there, looking at him. After a moment of silence between the both of us, I slid off the trunk and began walking slowly towards them.

"Wow." Sam said as I got closer. "Anna, you've grown so much." he stammered.

"It's been four years, Sam." I said, my tone apprehensive. I could see the expression in his eyes change slightly, as he nodded his head.

"Yeah, it has." He agreed, and then after another pause, he spread his arms out and asked, "Can I have a hug?"

I hesitated for a moment, then as tears began to pour from my eyes, I nodded my head, running forward into his arms.

"I missed you so much, Sam!" I cried as he stroked my hair.

"I missed you too, Shrimp." He used the nickname he called me ever since we met. I was always a pretty small kid, so was Sam, but he hit a growth spurt once he left and now was huge.

"Then why did you stop calling?" I demanded. "We're family, you don't just leave family!"

"I know, I'm sorry." he said, avoiding answering me.

"Sorry doesn't cut the cheese." I mumbled, a phrase that I once heard Dad say to me when I broke his EMF reader when I wasn't even supposed to be playing with it.

"What?" Sam asked, pulling away, confused.

"It's something Dad said to me once." I shrugged, wiping my eyes.

"Oh," Sam said.

"And speaking of Dad," Dean jumped in, motioning for Sam to go over to where he was at the trunk, which was now open. He had his recorder out.

"I got this voice mail yesterday."

He played it for Sam, who listened.

"Dean . . . Something big is starting to happen . . . I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may . . . Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger." That was Dad. That must have been the voice mail he left. I stared in shock.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam pointed out. Dean gave him a half-smile.

"Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?"

Sam's response was just to shake his head.

"All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got."

Dean played it again, and this time, we heard a woman's voice coming through.

"I can never go home." it said in a sad voice. It gave me chills down my back, and I shuffled closer to Dean's side, lacing my arm through his.

"You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Dean said, his voice low. I leaned my head against his arm, looking at Sam with puppy dog eyes. He had to say yes. He had to come with us.

"Alright. I'll go. I'll help you find him." He said after a moments hesitation.

"Really?" I asked, letting go of Dean and wrapping my arms around Sam's stomach, resting my chin on his stomach, looking up at him. Wow, he really was tall. He placed his hand on my head and nodded.

"Yes. But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." he disentangled himself from me and headed back to his apartment.

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean called after him. Sam paused, looking over his shoulder to answer.

"I have this . . . I have an interview."

"What, a job interview? Skip it."

"It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate." Sam said back, venom in his voice, as thought Dean and I should have known this already.

"Law school?" Dean smirked at him. Sam glared.

"So do we have a deal or not?"

Dean didn't respond, and Sam turned and continued into his apartment. I turned to Dean who looked about just as thrilled as I looked-which wasn't very. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. It felt weird, strange almost. Like we were three people who didn't really belong together anymore. It was awkward.

"Come on, let's get ready to roll." Dean said, putting his hand on my back an opening the backseat door for me. I climbed in, trying to avoid all my candy I had on the seat. "Hey, get that candy off my seats."

"Okay." I said, hurriedly trying to scoop all the candy back into the pillowcase. I didn't mention that they were all in wrappers still, but the thought of chocolate melting onto Dean's seats accidentally was enough to scare me into putting them all away. Dean would kill me if I got chocolate on his seats.

Dean slid into the front seat and soon my blanket and pillow were being tossed back to me.

"Bedtime for you, kiddo." he said.

"Aww, come on!" I whined. "I want to stay up and talk to Sam."

"I need to talk to Sam. You need some sleep, cause we all know how you get when you don't get enough sleep." Well, he was right. I was a real grump if I started to feel any lack of sleep. "We'll be where we need to be by morning. We'll stop and get some breakfast and you can talk then."

"Alright." I sighed, positioning my pillow where I wanted it to be. I covered myself with my blanket and laid down. This was the nice part about having the backseat to myself. It was a pretty large backseat too.

"Sweet dreams, Anna Lee."

"Goodnight, Dean."

I snuggled my head deeper into my pillow, feeling pretty content, for the first time in a few days. I knew things weren't exactly the way I wanted them to be, but they were changing. Sam coming with us was a huge change. A few days ago, I honestly thought I would never see Sam again. I thought he was going to go on and live his own life and forget about us, that we were ever even a family.

But now that we had Sam, what would it be like when we found Dad? How would they react when they saw each other? Would they start yelling again, fighting before anyone could say anything? Would Dad or Sam take off again?

I pulled my blanket up closer to my face, forcing myself to stop thinking.

No, things would be better. They had to be.

**Authors Note:**

**Thank you everyone for the reviews and adds so far! I just wanted to let you all know that I have a survey on my page now, and I was hoping you would all take it... It's just 5 questions on my profile :) Be honest and truthful, I would love to hear what you all have to say!**

**GEW**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

I must have been really tired and hadn't even realized it, because when I woke up the next morning, it was already nine and we were stopped at a gas station refueling. I could see Sam sitting in the passenger seat with his door open, but Dean was no where to be seen. I rolled from my side onto my back, yawning silently.

My movement caught Sam's attention, and he turned to look at me.

"Good morning." He said, giving me a small smile. I rubbed my eyes with my hands, getting all the nasty eye boogers out, before sitting up and returning the smile. He had his arm draped over the back of the seat, so I rested my head on it, looking into his face.

"I had a dream that you left us again." I whispered, afraid that if I said it too loud, that he would disappear. Sam brought his free hand up to my face and used his thumb to gently stroke my cheek.

"I'm still here." he whispered back. Still here. That implied that soon, he would not be. He could have said, 'I'm not leaving you', but then that would imply he would actually stay, and we all knew that wasn't the case.

I turned my face away and leaned back, not saying anything. I didn't know what else to say.

"Hey!" I jumped, looking around to see Dean walking towards the car. Sam stuck his head out of the car. "You want breakfast?"

"No, thanks." Sam responded, before I could get to my door to open it and say anything. "How'd you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?"

I glared at the back of Sam's head.

"It's not like we have a choice, Sam." I said to him angrily. "You used to use them too, remember?"

"Yeah. Hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career." Dean added, getting into the front seat. "Besides, all we do is apply. Not our fault they send us the card."

I climbed up into the front seat, positioning myself between Sam and Dean while Sam picked up Dean's tape collection. He shuffled through them, before turning to Dean and ripping on him about needing to update it.

I took the box away from him, holding it defensively in my lap.

"Well, house rules, Sammy." Dean said to Sam.

"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve year old." Sam replied defensively, and I giggled. "It's Sam, okay?"

Dean turned the music up. "Sorry! I can't hear you. The musics too loud!"

He peeled out of the parking lot and down the road, singing loudly to the music. I was smiling from ear to ear. This is what it used to be like. This was how it was before Sam left. The three of us sitting in the front seat, Sam and Dean bickering as usual.

~ . ~

When we pulled into town, after Sam called around to see if anyone at the morgue or hospital matched Dad's description, Dean immediately headed towards the crime scene. I was told to lay down in the back so that I wouldn't be seen. I was used to this. I covered myself with my blanket and curled into a ball on the floor. If I happen to be in the car when Dean goes to do some questioning, and a cop happens to see me in the backseat, it leads to a bunch of unwanted questions.

I curled under the blanket, counting in my head. I got to two thousand and four hundred before the front doors opened and they both slid in again. I stayed under the blanket while Dean started the car and drove off, until he said I could come out.

"Can we go get breakfast now?" I asked, resting my arms over the back of the seat and resting my chin on them. "I'm hungry."

I also remembered what Dean said last night about letting me talk to Sam during breakfast. Though, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to say to him. It was weird, having him back, but knowing he was only going to be with us for a couple days. It felt like our relationship wasn't really there anymore, almost like having a friend, and then drifting apart for a while, then trying to be friends again. You're familiar with them, but they're just different.

"Yeah in a little bit. We just wanna walk around town real quick."

"Ughh." I groaned. "Dean, I'm starving!"

"Alright, we'll drop you off at the diner, and walk around real quick, then come back."

If that was the best deal I was going to get right now, I was taking it.

"Oh, alright. But you're coming back to eat with me, right?"

"Sure."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest. Sure. Yeah, sure my great-aunt Fanny. They were going to blow me off, I just knew it.

"If you say sure, and you don't come back, then you're a liar."

"When have I ever lied to you?" Dean asked skeptically. I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it.

"Well, you've lied to other people!" I pointed out.

"But have I ever lied to you?"

"Well-"

"Well?"

"No." I huffed.

"Then what do you have to worry about"

"You've broken promises."

"Anna."

"Alright, alright." I surrendered. "I just don't want to eat alone."

"You won't be alone." Dean sighed, and I could tell he was getting tired of the conversation. Sam however, was smirking.

~. ~

Alone. I had been worried about eating breakfast alone, and it turned out, I was anything but alone. Dean and Sam came back with two goth-looking girls. Apparently, I was Dean's daughter, and the cousin of the kid that died on the bridge. I knew enough to play along with it, and put on my best sad, depressed, just-lost-a-family-member-that-i-never-met look.

"Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." that one girl said.

"What do they talk about?" Dean and Sam asked at the same time.

"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago."

I groaned inwardly. Oh great. Here goes another legend. This wasn't going to lead us to out Dad, but I knew we would be staying until it was solved.

"Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up . . . Well, they disappear forever."

BAM. That was the hook, and my brothers took it with line and sinker. The two girls were thanked and dismissed, just in time for our food to arrive.

Dean dug into his food without any more words, and Sam into his. I sat there, twirling my fork between my fingers. I watched Sam eat, mentally probing him to say something. He didn't even seem to notice that I was staring at him though. I was ready for him to finally explain why he stopped calling. I was ready for him to explain how he could stop calling. He didn't say anything though. He just ate.

I stopped twirling my fork and placed it on the table with a flat hand and enough force to make it loud.

"Why did you stop calling?" I demanded. Sam looked up, surprised.

"What-"

"Don't _what _me, Sam! Why? I want to know, why?"

"I-"

"How could you? Did you just stop caring, or something? Did you ever wonder if we were even alive still?"

"Yes-"

"No! You can't stop calling and claim that you still care!" I snapped.

"Anna," Dean said, a slight warning in his voice. He put his hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it off angrily.

"Don't pretend you aren't wondering the same thing. I know what you think about this! You're just as mad as I am and-"

"Anna, slow down. How can Sam talk about it if you won't give him a chance to explain?"

"There's nothing to explain, Dean. You heard him! He stopped calling and he stopped caring. He's just a big fat, selfish, liar!" I slammed my hand down on the table as I stood up, running out of the cafe.

I thought seeing Sam again would be better. I thought having breakfast and being able to talk to him would fix things. But what was there to fix? Sam burned the bridge and there was no repairing it. The only thing to do would be to rebuild it, and what was the point of rebuilding it if he was just going to leave again?

"Anna!" Dean's voice yelled after me as I stalked angrily down the street and passed the Impala. I ignored him and ignored the tears that began trickling down my cheeks. I wouldn't let Sam see me cry. "Anna, stop!"

I could hear Dean's footsteps coming up fast on me, and then his hand on my shoulder, jerking me to a stop and being forced to face him. He was already bent down on one knee when I threw my arms around him and cried into his shoulder. He put a hand on the back of my head and one on my back, letting out a sigh. It wasn't an irritated sigh, but more of a empathetic sigh.

"Alright," he soothed, carding his fingers through my hair. "It's okay."

"What did we do to make him stop loving us?" I asked, my voice hitching as I looked over his shoulder. "Why can't we be good enough for him?"

"Sweetheart, I don't think Sam ever stopped loving us. He especially never stopped loving you."

"It sure don't seem that way."

"A lot of things aren't the way they seem."

"Well it certainly isn't fair."

Dean chuckled and pulled back, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

"A lot of things aren't fair, kiddo."

"I'm so confused, Dean." I said, taking his wrists in my hands and holding them away from my face. "I-I don't know how to handle Sam right now. I'm so mad at him, but I'm so happy to see him too. The worst part is that I know he's going to go back to school on Monday."

"Well, don't you think we should just enjoy the time we have with him?"

I shrugged.

"And it's a little funny that he 'doesn't care' anymore, but came with us when we asked him to, don't you think?" he asked pointedly. "That doesn't seem like not caring to me."

"Yeah but if we called he probably wouldn't have." I countered. Dean was quite for a moment because he knew I was right.

"Alright, okay." he said, shaking his head and putting his hands on my shoulders. "I know you're upset with him-and you have every right to be-but we need to focus on finding Dad, okay? So just try and get along."

"You're making it sound like I'm the one that hates him." I huffed.

"No one hates anyone." he said firmly. "So stop saying that."

I looked down at the ground and bit my bottom lip. Dean stared at me for a moment, then pulled me in for another hug. I relaxed into him. At least I always had Dean, no matter what. He would never leave me.

"You ready to finish eating your breakfast? I'm sure it's getting nice and cold by now."

I nodded and Dean stood up, putting his hand on my back. We walked to the diner together without saying anything else. I was a little weary of going back in there and facing Sam, and if it weren't for Dean's hand on my back guiding me in the door, I would have hesitated outside and contemplated whether or not I really wanted to go back in.

Dean slid into the booth and I sat next to him, staring down at my plate as I immediately began to dig in. I could feel Dean and Sam exchanging looks next to me. I pretended I didn't notice and kept eating.

~ . ~

After breakfast, I sat in the car as Dean and Sam went around doing some research on what was going on. We went to the library and I sat in the young adult section reading some books while they looked on the database to see if they could find anything. I really got into the book I was reading, so when Dean came to find me saying they were ready to go, I asked if I could stay and finish the book.

"You want to stay here?" he asked, looking around. "There's only books here."

"I know." I smiled. "I like reading, you know that."

"Alright." he shrugged. "But you better not take one step outside of this building, got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Keep your phone on you." he leaned down and kissed my head before turning around and meeting Sam at the door. I waved goodbye to them, and then returned back to my book and mostly my thoughts.

**Authors Note:**

**Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been pretty busy with school and such, and not feeling well. Sigh. Well, anyway, I'm back! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**GEW**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

I was getting to the last chapter in the book I was reading, when my phone began to ring. I pulled it out of my pocket, hoping to see my Dad's name on the screen. It was only Dean's though.

"Hello?" I asked, slightly disappointed.

"Come outside, we're in the car." He said, then hung up before I could say anything else. I gave my phone a weird look before flipping it closed and standing up. I wondered what that was all about as I put my book away.

I realized what exactly it was, when I slid into the backseat and an awful smell assaulted my nose.

"Ugh what-?"

"Don't ask." Dean snapped, and for the first time, I really looked at him. He was covered in mud from head to toe.

"Dean what happened?" I asked, ignoring what he had said as I leaned forward. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." he replied, taking off out of the parking lot. I glanced over to Sam who half shrugged. I slid back into the seat and put my feet up so that my knees were to my chest. I covered my nose with my hand, pulling my sleeve over it so that I had some sort of filter to block the smell. Dean and Sam both had their windows open, but it wasn't doing much help.

I didn't say anything else, because Dean had that look about him, where if I said the wrong thing, he might try to strangle me. So I kept my mouth shut until we pulled into the parking lot of the nearest motel.

"We're gonna go get a room, wait here." Dean said when he turned off the car.

"Why do I have to wait here?" I pouted. "It's not like renting a room is dangerous."

Dean raised an eyebrow at me in his rear view mirror. I sighed, crossing my arms.

"You stink." I had a hard time not smiling at my joke. Sam however, laughed, and when Dean gave him a look, said,

"What? You have to admit, that was funny-and true."

"Yeah, I'll show you funny," Dean threatened under his breath, opening his door and getting out. Sam shook his head, following suit. I sat in the backseat waiting. I bet if Sam weren't here, Dean would have let me come. He's never made me wait in the car while checking in before. I scooted over so that I could open the door and get out. Dean told me to stay here, but he didn't specify if I had to be inside the car.

I made my way to the back of the car and popped the trunk open, where mine, Dean and Sam's bags were. I had a duffel bag that was black with pink zippers and had the initials A.L.W. Even though my first name was really Susannah, I hated being called that. Ever since I could remember, I'd always been referred to as Anna. My mom named me after her great grandmother. I liked my mom's name a lot better than I liked my name-her name was Alice. Alice Dawn. Even her last name was nice. Though, I kind of liked Winchester. It was badass.

When I was nine, my dad told me the story of how he and my mom had met. It was 1993 when he went to Montgomery, Alabama to hunt a skin walker. My mom was twenty eight, and worked at the Library. She was more beautiful than any other librarian I've ever seen. She wasn't mean and angry, wearing glasses down her nose and floral patterned dresses. She was kind and had soft, sweet, gray eyes, and she always worse bright colored shirts and long flowing skirts.

She loved books, too. Everything about them. The way they looked, the way they smelled, the way they felt when you turned a page. She loved what you could get out of them. She had me at the Library with her almost every day when she wasn't working, and sometimes, even when she was. I would sit there with her while she checked books back in and organized them on the carts to where they needed to go. Sometimes she would find me the best books and I would sit on the floor under her desk reading them or looking at the pictures (as best a three year old could). I loved books too. I was reading at a third grade level by four years old.

So when Dad walked into the Library to do some research, you can only imagine what happened then. I know that my dad never stopped loving my brothers mom, but I know he loved my mom too.

Dad was working in the area for a few weeks, and every time he went to the Library, there she was. After a few times of running into her, he asked her on a date. My mom was a simple person, and was always willing to try new things or meet new people. So she agreed to go out to coffee with him. When she asked him what he had been researching, he told her he had been looking up lore of skin walkers. Mom didn't think it was weird, and even went on telling him everything she knew about skin walkers and shape shifters. Dad smiled when he told me that, laughing and saying that half of what she said was right, but the other half was so out there.

They got along real well, and soon enough, Dad had finished what he came to do-wiping out an entire nest of skin walkers that had colonized together-it was time for him to leave. He kept in touch with my mom, and every now and then he would stop by when he was in the area. Then, about a year later, my mom was pregnant with me.

Dad said my mom had called him and left a voice mail saying she was pregnant and she was sure it was his, because he was the only person she had been seeing. She didn't expect him to move in with her, or to pay her any money. All she wanted was for him to be there when I was born, so that she wouldn't be alone, and that I would have at least had the chance to meet him once.

But my Dad isn't a jerk. Dad was there when I was born. The last four weeks of my moms pregnancy, he had stayed in the same state. As it got closer to the time I was suppose to be born, he moved his hunts closer and closer to my moms town. Sam and Dean didn't know what was going on at the time. They didn't know I was alive until the day my mom was murdered.

When I was four years old, a skin walker killed my mom. Dad says it was one of the ones from the nest that he murdered. He must have gotten away without him knowing. The skin walker stayed in the area, but kept hidden, and one day, when I was in school, saw my mom and dad meeting for coffee. He followed my mom home once they parted their separate ways, and killed her.

I was picked up from pre-k by the police. I didn't really know what was going on. They wouldn't tell me anything, and when I started crying for my mom, they told me everything was going to be okay. On my birth certificate, my dads name was put down, except it was an alias, and he had a different number. They called him, and he came to pick me up.

I had seen him a few times a year, so I knew who he was.

_He rushed into the station, barking orders for them to bring him to me. _

_"Where is she? Bring me to her!" he yelled. The cops that were sitting at their desks jumped, and one stood up, rushing over to him. _

_"Mr. Kennedy, sir," he said, "We have her in a waiting room, she's fine. I just need to have you go through security before I can bring you back there-"_

_"So why are we still talking?" he demanded. The cop stammered something and then led him towards the room I was in, and held him at the security station where they sent him through a metal detector and had him take everything out of his pockets. I stood up from my bench and walked over to the window, pressing my hands against it and looking through at him. _

_Why was my Daddy here? It wasn't my birthday. . . was it? Was it a holiday? Maybe it was one of those holidays that grown-ups get off of work, but nothing really happens. _

_"How long has she been in there?" dad questioned as they came up to my room. _

_"She's been in custody since we picked her up from her day care at two." _

_"You've kept her in there for five hours?" _

_"I'm sorry sir, but we don't have the authority to release her to anyone but you. Unless it's child services." he added. The doorknob twisted and the door opened. Dad swooped upon me, lifting me up so that I was encased in his big, strong arms. _

_"Am I in trouble?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck. _

_"No, baby, you're not." he said, a small relieved sigh coming from him. _

_"Well, where's mommy?" _

_"Are we free to go?" he asked the police man. He nodded, and led us back to the front of the station, giving Daddy my backpack that they took when we got here. _

_"Daddy, where's mommy?" I pressed as he began walking out of the station. Tears sprang into my eyes. "I want mommy!" _

_Dad stopped walking when we got to the sidewalk and set me down on a bench, sitting next to me. He turned me so that I was facing him, and the look on his face made me cry even more. _

_"What's wrong with my mommy?" _

_"Baby, I'm so sorry," Dad said, putting his hand on my head and brushing my hair away from my face. "Your mommy-she isn't with us anymore." _

_"Where'd she go?" I demanded, smacking his hand away from me. "Bring her back!" _

_"I can't, baby." Dad said, shaking his head sadly. "Did your mommy ever tell you about heaven?" _

_"Yes." I sniffled. _

_"Well, Mommy is in heaven now." _

_I stared at him, tears burning in my eyes. My mommy? In heaven? No. It couldn't be. My mommy wouldn't leave me like that. _

_"No! You're lying!" I yelled at him, pushing off from the bench I sprang into a full out sprint down the sidewalk. I was going to go home, and my mom was going to be there. I'd open the door and she would kneel down and hold her arms out to me like she did whenever I got dropped back off home from a friends house. She would hug me and tell me how much she missed me. _

_"Anna!" Dad yelled after me. My little legs couldn't work fast enough though. He had caught up to me easily, scooping me into his arms. There were two boys behind him suddenly, running as if they meant to catch me too. "It's okay, it's alright." Dad said as I wailed into his shoulder. _

That was the only time Dad ever rode in the backseat of the car. He sat in the back with me the entire ride while Dean drove. I cried my eyes out the entire time. I demanded that he bring me back to my house, and that he was lying-that my mom was waiting for me. The three of them listened to me cry for seven hours, until we got to a different town, in a different state. They didn't tell me to stop. They didn't turn the radio on to drown me out. When I finally fell asleep, I slept for eighteen hours. When I woke up, it was from a nightmare, and the person holding me, was someone I didn't know. It turned out, to be Dean.

~ . ~

The door to the motel opened and Sam and Dean came out, talking in hushed voices. When Dean looked up and saw me staring into the trunk, he held his hands out, with his palms up, as if to say 'what are you doing'.

"I told you to stay in the car." he said. I shook myself out of my thoughts, turning to him.

"No, you told me to 'wait here'. You never said I had to stay in the car." I pointed out.

"She's right." Sam added.

"We were in the car, I said 'stay here'. I think that implied you staying in the car." Dean argued.

"Well we were also in the parking lot which could have implied you only wanted me to stay in the parking lot."

"Anna."

"Dean?"

"Stop being a smart ass and get your bag. Next time, I'll be more specific."

I grabbed my duffel bag and threw it over my shoulder.

"By the way," Dean said. "Apparently Dad's been renting this room for a month."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Wha-Really?" I asked, my heart leaping in my chest.

"Yeah, room five."

Before Dean or Sam could even comprehend what was happening, I had dropped my duffel bag and taken off to room five. Dad was here. I was running up to the room, ready to knock on the door, demanding it to be opened, when my elbow was grabbed and I was yanked around abruptly.

"What is wrong with you?" Dean demanded, his voice dangerously low. I looked at him startled as I tried retained my balance. "I don't _ever_, and I mean _ever_, want to see you running into anything like that again, do I make myself clear?"

I nodded slowly, wide eyed. Dean looked real serious and it was startling.

"You don't know what's on the other side of that door. Yeah, it could be dad. But it could also be a hundred other things-like a trap!"

"I'm sorry." I whispered terrified. I hadn't really thought about that. There wasn't much on my mind other than the fact that Dad had supposedly been renting out that room.

Dean clenched his jaw, then wiped his hand over his mouth, looking away.

"Alright. I get it." he stood up. "But don't ever do that again or I swear I'll blister your ass with my belt."

I flushed crimson from the top of my head all the way down my neck and looked away. Dean put his finger on my chin and guided me to look at him.

"I mean it, Susannah. What's one of my most important rules?"

"Don't put myself in danger. Dean," I whined, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"I know you didn't mean to. You weren't thinking. But we can't afford to do that."

"I'm sorry." I insisted.

"Go get your bag."

I trudged back towards the car where my bag was laying on the ground. Sam grabbed his bag from the trunk and closed it before put his hand on my shoulder and walking back with me to room five. He knelt down on the ground, pulling out his lock picking kit, while Dean stood watch. I stood looking eagerly over Sam's shoulder, and when he opened the door and stepped in, I pushed past him.

The room was empty. And it was definitely Dad's room. There were papers covering every inch of the walls.

"Whoa." Sam said after yanking Dean inside.

"Dad?" I called, lowering my bag to the floor.

"I don't think he's been here, for a couple days at least." Dean said behind me. I walked over to the wall with all the papers covering it, as Sam mentioned something to Dean about Dad being worried. What were all these papers?

Dean came up next to me, looking at a paper and when Sam asked him what it was, he said,

"Centennial Highway victims."

I turned away from the wall and went over to the bed, plopping myself down as I had a hard time holding back tears. I was so excited that Dad was going to be in this room. I was ready to find him. Most of all, I just wanted to hug him again. Dean's hugs were nice, but there was something about Dad's hugs that were different.

The bed sank down next to me and I looked up to see Sam sitting there. Dean was gone from the room, but the shower in the bathroom was running.

"We're going to find him." Sam assured me, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his side. I snuggled against him, blinking the tears out of my eyes.

"I don't know, Sam. I have a bad feeling about this. Dad never leaves his rooms like this. He always cleans them so no one will see any of this."

"Well, I think that was the point." Sam pulled me away from him so that he could look at me. "Dad left this here so _we _could find it. He wants us to finish what he started here."

"That's stupid." I huffed. "If that's all, then why won't he call? Why didn't he leave a note?"

"I don't know."

"Because somethings wrong, that's why."

I got up from the bed and went over to the wall again, this time, I stood in front of it, reading the articles.

"Sam, what's a woman in white? And why is she killing all these people?"

"Um," Sam started, and I could hear him get up from where he was sitting and come up behind me. "A woman in white is. . . Well, basically, she's a malevolent spirit that hitchhikes on men who are in relationships, and when they invite her into the car, they are being untrue . . . so . . . she kills them."

"So, basically, she's asking men for a ride, and when they agree, she kills them? That's so stupid! Maybe they're just good people helping a woman in need!"

Sam shrugged his shoulders, but didn't say anything.

"Ghosts are stupid." I muttered, turning away from the wall. Dad should have killed her by now. Dad was smarter than ghosts.

Sam chuckled and ruffled my hair. I ducked out from under his hand and belly flopped onto the bed.

"This place really needs to be cleaned."

"You have two hands." Sam announced. "Why don't you do it?"

"Me? Why me? Why don't you do it? You have two hands too!"

"I have to do research."

"Can I do research with you? Dean lets me help him when he's doing research."

"There's really not much to do right now." Sam mumbled as he took his phone out of his pocket and sat down. He flipped it open, pressing a few buttons before holding it up to his ear, completely distracted from me. His face had changed, and I wondered what he was listening to.

The door to the bathroom opened and Dean came out all clean and good smelling again. He grabbed his jacket from where it hung off the corner of the dresser and shrugged it on, looking over at me.

"You hungry?"

I nodded.

"Hey, man. I'm starving. I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. Want anything?" he asked Sam, who said no. When Dean told him that Aframian was buying, Sam just shook his head and made a noncommittal sound. "Alright. Anna?" he gestured to he door and I jumped up from the bed.

"We should buy from air freshener while we're out. It smells like rotting meat in here." I thought aloud, just as I passed by a half-eaten, old cheeseburger. "Eugh." I crinkled my nose at it. "See my point?"

"Yeah, yeah, I see your point." Dean said, pushing on my back so that I kept walking towards the door. "Come on, I'm starving."

I opened the door and skipped out to the Impala. I had made it halfway to the car when I stopped, noticing a group of police officers talking to a man in the parking lot. When Dean appeared behind me, he put his hand protectively on my shoulder. When the group of police officers were directed towards us, Dean grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around so that his back was to the officers and he was blocking me from their view.

"You got your phone?" I nodded. "Good. Run."

"But-"

"Anna, so help me god, you better run right now." He said, his voice deadly. I bit my bottom lip as I glanced around him at the advancing cops. "Go!" He turned me around and gave me a solid push to start me off running.

This wasn't the first time I'd been forced to make a run for it. About two years ago, Dean and Dad were caught by police and I had run away to avoid being caught. They said if I ever get caught, I'll get put into the custody of the state, and sent to live with foster parents. I didn't want that to happen, and neither did they. Our agreement was that if something like this happened, I would run and hide, and a few hours later, if things seemed to have died down, I would make my way to the nearest Library and wait outside, hidden.

That was where I was supposed to go if I ever got separated from them and didn't have a way to call them. They would automatically look for me at the Library, and if I wasn't there, then they would run around town. Luckily, it rarely ever happened.

I glanced over my shoulder as I ran, my eyes pricking with unshed tears as I watched them slam Dean over the hood of the car. I stopped running, watching with pain as they cuffed him. Another cop was running after me, and Dean yelled something I couldn't hear. I think he said run, but I was having a hard time getting my feet to move.

"Run!" Dean yelled again, as the cop got closer to me. I forced myself to move away and ran down the street, then ducked down another. I ran for a while, until I was out of breath. I looked over my shoulder. There was no one there. I slowed to a walk, holding my hands on the top of my head as I tried to catch my breath.

I was supposed to act normal, so people wouldn't think here was something wrong. I slid down the side of a building and brought my knees up to my chin.

What had just happened? It happened so fast, and now that I was sitting and had time to register what was going on, my body started to tremble terribly, and tears fell out of my eyes like a waterfall. I couldn't help it.

Why did they take Dean? What was going to happen to him? What happened to Sam? Was he okay? As if someone heard my questions, my phone had rang. I jumped, pulling it out of my pocket. It was Sam.

"Sam?" I asked, my voice wavering.

"Anna? Are you okay?"

"Sam what happened? Where's Dean? What did they do with him?" I wailed, my sobs making it difficult to be understood.

"The cops found out that we aren't real US Marshals."

"What are they going to do to Dean?"

"They have in downtown for questioning right now, is my guess. But that's not important right now. I want to know where you are."

"I don't know." I squeaked. "Dean told me to run, so I ran. I don't know where I ran, I just—I just did."

"It's okay, Anna. Relax. Take a deep breath."

I inhaled deeply, then let it out.

"What do you see around you? Are there any buildings? Street signs?"

"There's a dentist's office across the street. It's Salvatores Family Dentistry."

"Alright. Stay right where you are, I'm coming to get you."

"Okay." I whimpered, then flipped my phone shut. Part of me wanted to open it and call Dean. But I knew that if he was in police custody, he wouldn't have it on him, and if he did, it might be connected to a phone tap. Dean told me about those. We had to be careful who we called sometimes.

So instead, I played tetris until Sam pulled up in front of me with the Impala. I jumped up and ran to the car. He leaned over and opened the passenger door before I got to it, so I dived right in, wrapped my arms around his neck and clinging to him like a monkey.

"Whoa, easy." Sam soothed, wrapped an arm around my waist and rubbing my back with the other. "Everything's okay."

"No it's not." I protested. "Dean _and _Dad are gone!"

"First of all, Dean's not gone. He's just in custody. We'll get him out soon. Second, Dad isn't gone either, he's just—MIA for a little bit."

"What the difference?" I grouched. Gone, MIA, same thing.

"He's not gone, because he's going to come back."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." He assured me, setting me beside him on the seat. "Now, I have someone I want to interview about this case. So that's where we're going now."

"But what about Dean?"

Sam handed me a cell phone.

"Call 911, tell them that you heard shots fired on Whiteford road. Then toss the phone out the window."

I held onto the phone, staring at Sam as he pulled away from the curb.

"What?" he asked when I didn't start dialing.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yyy-es." Sam drew out. "But, it will get the cops out of the office so Dean can escape."

"Ohhh." I said, grinning.

"You have to make in convincing though." Sam told me. "Make it sound bad."

"Okay!" This was going to be easy. I opened the phone and dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?" the operator asked.

"Please, help! I-I think something—something's wrong! I heard gunshots and people sc-screaming! I'm scared! I'm on Whiteford Road! Please! They're getting closer! I-I have to go!"

"Wait-" I could hear the operator try to say something as I took the phone away from my ear and shut if off before rolling down the window and tossing it.

"Good job." Sam said.

"Are you sure that's going to work?"

"Dean will make it work. We've worked with much less."

I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I really hoped it would work.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

I stayed in the car while Sam went to interview the dead woman's husband. Unlike Dean, Sam didn't even bother telling me to stay in the car. He just said, 'I'm going to go talk to this guy, okay? I'll be right back."

I could have gotten out of the car if I really wanted to. Maybe if it were any other day, I would have. But not today. I was more concerned with Dean than snooping around some cases. Besides, I didn't want Sam to get mad at me for something and go back to school early. So I waited in the passenger seat with my phone in my lap, ready in case Dad or Dean called.

It wasn't long before Sam had returned and slid into the drivers seat.

"So?" I asked.

"She's definitely a woman in white." Sam shrugged as he started the car. "He pretty much admitted to cheating on her."

"What a douche-wad." I mumbled under my breath. Sam turned to look at me as he pulled onto the main road.

"What?" he asked, as though he wasn't sure he heard me right. I lifted my eye brows and shifted my eyes from right to left.

"Nothing."

"Did you say _douche-wad?" _

"Possibly?" I said guiltily.

Sam shook his head and let out his signature half laugh half sigh.

"So what are we doing now?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

"We're going to find where Constance was buried and burn her remains."

We were driving down the road and Sam's phone rang. He picked it up and listened to the other person on the line for a moment, when a smirk came to his face.

"You're welcome."

"Who is it?" I probed, but Sam ignored me and kept talking to the person.

"Tell me about it. So the husband _was_ unfaithful. We _are_ dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop . . . I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet . . . What?" he said, his tone changing completely.

"What? Who is it?" I asked again, tugging on this shirt sleeve.

"How do you know . . . He doesn't go anywhere without that thing . . . What's it say?"

"What thing? Sam!" I smacked his arm and he shot me a look.

"Coordinates? Where to . . . I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, I was being flung forward, smashing into the dashboard, using my hands to break the fall. I wasn't expecting that.

"Sam!" I yelled angrily, and could hear someone's faint voice coming out of the phone which had been dropped on the ground, also saying his name. It sounded like Dean. I glared at Sam, and saw that he was staring out the front windshield of the car. I straightened up and also looked out, but there was nothing there.

"Take me home." I screamed. A womans voice appeared in the backseat of the car, making me jump and scoot to the edge of my seat as far away as possible. "Take me home." she moaned again. I looked at Sam with wide, terrified eyes.

"No." Sam said. The locks on the door clicked down. Sam and I both tried our doors, but they wouldn't open. I could feel my heart rate getting faster and faster. The car started moving forward, and Sam grabbed onto the wheel.

"Sam?" I said in a low voice as we drove down the road. Sam just shook his head slightly, and I pushed myself further against the door, forcing myself not to look at the dead woman in the backseat of the car. Dean's car. He was going to be pissed if she messed up his car.

A few minutes later, after much contemplating of whether or not I should just open the door and jump out, Sam pulled up in front of a farm house. The car turned off, and so did the lights, leaving us in darkness.

"Don't do this." Sam said from beside me, and his voice sounded worried.

"I can never go home." Constance moaned from the backseat.

"You're scared to go home." Sam corrected her. I was scared. I pressed the unlock button and the door unlocked. She must have been distracted, and I opened the door and got out, immediately running away from the house. I had to go find Dean.

I didn't run very far though, before I got near the end of the driveway and saw car headlights coming down the road. I got in the middle of the road, flagging them down with my arms. Maybe they would drive me into town?

The car got closer, then stopped when it got in front of me. The door opened and someone got out, though I couldn't see them past the headlights.

"Anna?" It was Dean.

"Dean?" I asked, lunging forward and running to him as he shut the door. I flung my arms around his waist. "Dean we have to help Sam! Constance has him int he car-"

Dean didn't need to hear any more. He ran to the trunk and opened it, grabbing his shot gun out.

"Stay here!" He told me, running off to help Sam. Stay here? I looked at the car, then to Dean who was getting further and further away, then back to the car. A split second later I was off, running after Dean.

As I got closer, Dean had just finished firing his gun, and Sam drove the car straight through the house. Dean took off after him, disappearing into the house. I sprinted there, jumping inside over the wreckage just as Sam got out of the car.

"Sam!" I wailed, running over to him and throwing my arms around him.

"I told you to stay at the car!" I Dean snapped immediately, yanking me away from Sam. He looked really mad. We didn't have time to discuss my blatant disregard for what Dean had said, because, we were crushed up against the car by a dresser. I was pinned between Sam and Dean, but because I was so much smaller than both of them, I wasn't squished by the dresser like they were.

"You've come home to us, Mommy." two childrens voices said from the top of the stairs. I turned my head, burying into the side of Dean as they appeared at the bottom of the stairs. The way they spoke was eery and honestly, it really creeped me out. Dean wrapped his arm around me, holding me close to his side.

There was a loud scream and I cringed, not daring to look out at what was going on. A moment later, the dresser was shoved away and I was free to move. I ran back over to Sam, throwing my arms around him and burying my face into his stomach.

"I thought she was going to kill you!" I said shakily.

"Yeah, well it's not Sam's ass that you should be worried about right now." Dean said from behind me. I hug onto Sam tighter. "I told you to stay at the car! What part of that did you not understand?"

When I didn't say anything, Dean pulled me away from Sam and forced me to face him.

"I'm waiting for an answer, little girl."

"I was worried about Sam!" I wailed defensively. "I thought she was going to kill him!"

"So you thought it would be smart to go _running_ into the fight?" he asked, raising his voice. Boy, he really was pissed.

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking, I just-"

"No, you weren't thinking!" Dean bellowed. Warm tears were filling my eyes, making everything blurry.

"I'm sorry!"

"No, you're not! What did I tell you less than four hours ago?" he demanded, leaning over in front of me with his hands on his knees so that his face was level with mine. Heat rose to my face as I recalled what happened in the parking lot of the motel, and what Dean had said to me.

"I didn't mean to!" I insisted.

"What. Did. I. Say?"

I blinked and the tears fell.

"You said you would use your belt if you ever caught me running into a dangerous situation."

"Without doing what?" he prompted

"Without thinking."

"Right." Dean affirmed, straightening up. "Get in the car."

I turned on my heel and practically yanked the door open to get in. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, burying my face in them as I tried to calm myself down.

Sam and Dean stayed out there talking. After what seemed like a good fifteen minutes, Dean opened my door.

"Get out here." he said. I slid out, making sure to look as sorry as possible. Maybe he would go easy on me. I watched as he grabbed a chair from the side of the room and placed in in a less cluttered area, then sat down in it. I stood in my spot, not moving. "Anna, so help me god, if I have to tell you to get over here-"

I quickly made my feet bring me forward and came to stop in front of him. He didn't waste any time in pulling me across his lap. I grabbed onto the leg of the chair for support, and almost immediately took in a sharp breath as his hand descended on my backside.

I whimpered and squirmed as his hand fell for the twelfth time. Dean hadn't said a word, but that was typical. Dean wasn't one to talk during a spanking. I knew exactly why I was being spanked before I even landed over his knee. For him, talking during it was just redundant and wasted time. Though, sometimes I wouldn't mind a small break here and there as the sting began to build.

"Ow, Dean!" I wailed as he landed a particularly painful one to my sit spot. "I'm sorry! Please, I won't do it again!"

"You're damn right you won't." he said, and I started sobbing. There was no bargaining with him. I yelped through a few more painful swats then was placed on my feet, and Dean stood up. "Drop your pants." he said as he tossed an old lamp off an end table and replaced the chair with it.

"No! Dean please! I won't do it again, I promise!" I wailed, taking a step back.

"Susannah Lee, don't make me say it again." he had unbuckled his belt and pulled it through the loops. He folded the belt over and was standing there, waiting. I bit my bottom lip, then dropped my pants so they pooled around my feet. He gestured for me to lean over the end table, and I did. I grabbed the edges tight in anticipation. I had never been spanked with a belt before.

Dean put his hand on my lower back, and then before I was really ready for it, laid the first lick. I yelped, gasping. Dean laid nine more, and by the end, I was sobbing uncontrollably and saying I was sorry over and over.

I stayed laying over the table while Dean put his belt back on, not moving until he gently straightened me up and leaned in close to my face.

"I meant it when I said I didn't want to see you running into dangerous situations. I still mean it. You mean too much to me-and Sam and Dad-for you to be reckless like that. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dean. I understand." I whimpered, and was glad when he pulled me into him for a hug. I wrapped my arms around him, and he held me until my sobs had died down into sniffles as my nose continued to run.

"Dean?" Sam's hesitant voice came from outside. I had almost forgotten about Sam, and I didn't even wonder where he had been.

"It's good, Sam." Dean said. I blushed.

Sam came back into the house and stood awkwardly behind us for a moment.

"Alright, let's hit the road." Dean said, ruffling my hair. Sam opened the passenger door, and I made to get in too, but Dean held me back. I looked up at him and he leaned down and kissed my head. "I love you, Anna." He told me seriously.

"I love you too, Dean. And I really am sorry."

Dean wiped away the last of my tears with his thumb.

"I know. Come on, let's go."

I opened the backseat door and climbed in, climbing over the seat to sit between Sam and Dean. I wrapped my arm through Sam's and rested my head against his arm. I was glad that ghost lady didn't kill him.

"I love you, Sam." I told him. He smiled down at me.

"I love you too, Shrimp."

**Authors Note: **

**Thank you everyone for the reviews! The next chapter is going to be a good one that will really get the story kicked off, and from there the pace will pick up. Can't wait to get it all written out! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Dean had found Dad's journal while he was at the police department, and said that Dad left coordinates for him. He was in Blackwater Ridge, Colorado. Dean thought Sam was going to go with us to find him, but Sam said that his interview was in ten hours, and he wanted to do it. Dean was disappointed, and I was too. But for some reason, I wasn't angry.

When we arrived back at Stanford, I was getting really tired. I stayed up because I wanted to make sure I got to say goodbye to Sam. I didn't want him to just get out and leave. I hugged him for about two minutes before I pulled away. He said goodbye to Dean, then got out of the car.

"Call me if you find him?" he asked Dean, leaning in through the window.

"Yeah, all right." Dean said, then added. "You know, we made a hell of a team back there."

"Yeah." Sam said, and then Dean drove the car away. I watched Sam disappear in the rear view mirror, feeling sad.

"Hey Dean?"

"What's up, sweetheart?"

"Do you think . . . do you think that was the last hunt Sam is ever going to do?"

"I don't know."

"I don't think it is." I said. "I think Sam misses us."

"Oh yeah?"

"Did you see the way he watched us as we drove off? It was like he wanted to come, but. . . but knew that it was the better choice to make."

Dean shrugged.

"I think we should go back." I said. "I think we can convince him to come with us."

"I don't know, Anna. He seemed pretty adamant about going to that interview." but it sounded like he didn't even believe himself. I crawled across the seat so that I was next to him.

"Please, Dean? Come on. It can't hurt, can it?" Dean glanced over at me and I gave him the best puppy dog eyes I could. "Besides, you know you want to."

~ . ~

A few moments later, we pulled back up in front of Sam's apartment. I opened my door and slid out of the car, waiting for Dean to come around the other side. I followed him up to Sam's apartment, but as we got closer, Dean stopped, listening. I was about to ask what was wrong when he said, "Stay here" and took off running the rest of the way to Sam's apartment, busting open the door.

I took a step forward then stopped myself, knowing that if I followed I would be in so much trouble. I didn't really want to repeat the same lesson in the same day either. I stood in the hallway, worried, and jumped when I heard yelling. Sam's apartment had smoke billowing out of it slowly, and suddenly Sam and Dean came running out. As they ran past, Dean grabbed a hold of my hand and dragged me along.

When we got outside to the car, they stopped running.

"What happened?" I asked, thoroughly confused. Sam looked shaken up. "Hello?" I said when no one answered me. The sound of sirens faintly reached my eyes.

"Jess is dead." Sam said, staring blankly at the apartment building we just came running out of. My mouth dropped open and I looked from him to Dean. Neither of them said anything else.

~ . ~

Well, we got Sam to come with us, though it wasn't in the way I was expecting. He was ready to start hunting right away, so we left that night to go to Blackwater Ridge to find Dad. There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was like this wasn't right. I sat in the front seat, snuggled up to Sam's side, and fell asleep after a few minutes.

I woke up with a start, being jerked out of my sleep, as Sam woke up from a bad dream. He didn't want to talk much about it, and he even told Dean that he knew he was worried about him, but that he was fine. He asked where we were and got a map out. I really knew something was wrong when he said that he didn't want to talk to this girl, Haley, but instead, go straight to finding Dad.

I stayed in the car when they talked to her, keeping a low profile as I laid down in the backseat playing tetris on my phone. I stopped halfway through and after taking a deep breath, composed a text message to my Dad.

_Dad...Please come back. We need you. _

I hoped that would be enough for him to text me back, or give me a call. I sent it, and went back to playing my tetris game. I still hadn't recieved a reply by the time Sam and Dean came back out. We went to a bar to eat, while they looked on Sam's laptop at a video message that Haley's brother sent to her from camping.

They hardly even paid attention to me as they talked about what was going on. I didn't mind though. When I finished eating, I took my phone out and checked it for a text message from Dad. There was still nothing. I sighed and put it away, resting my chin in my hand. I shifted in my seat. Normally, when Dean spanked me, the feeling didn't last that long. It would sting for a while after, then turn into a dull ache. But after a few hours, it would be like nothing even happened.

With the belt, it was a different story entirely. Though there was no bruising that I could see, it sure felt as though there were some bruises under my skin, because when I sat, there was that bruised achey feeling.

"Are we going soon?" I asked, sliding off my chair, fed up with the uncomfortable feeling it was giving me. Sitting in the car all day, and then for dinner surely wasn't helping my situation.

"Why, what's wrong?" Dean asked, looking up from the laptop.

"Nothing. I'm just tired of sitting here."

Dean glanced to Sam who shrugged.

"Alright. Why don't we go get a motel room? You can hang out there while Sam and I do some digging around here."

"Okay."

Sam closed his laptop and Dean flagged down the waitress for the check. When she came back with it, he put some money in there, told her she could keep the change, and winked. She smiled flirtatiously back at him, and I rolled my eyes. Dean had always been a player, as far back as I could remember.

"You know, we should email Anna's teacher and see if she can send some work for her to do, that way she won't be so behind when she gets back to school."

"What?" I said. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine."

"Sam has a point." Dean said, sliding his jacket on. "You've already missed three days of school."

I scowled at Sam. Of course he had to bring up school. Sam thought school was the most important thing ever, besides oxygen.

"I don't want to." I grumped, crossing my arms.

"Well, that's unfortunate." Dean said without any sympathy. I shifted my glare to him but he ignored it. "Let's go."

Him and Sam got up from the table and headed towards the door, leaving me no choice but to get up and follow. I was just like Dean in the fact that I hated school.

I got into the back of the Impala and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What does it matter if I do good in school?" I asked. "I'm just going to be a hunter when I grow up anyway."

Dean clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. Over the past two years, we had been arguing-him trying to convince me that I was going to go to college and live an actual life, and my trying to convince him that I was going to follow in the family business. I didn't want to go to school. I wanted to hunt like them. Or even if I didn't hunt, I still didn't want to go to college.

"A hunter?" Sam asked. This was news to him, because he left before I started my 'I'm going to be a hunter' phase. "Really, Dean? You're going to let her be a hunter?"

"No, Sam. Of course I'm not going to let her become a hunter. She's going to school." he said, looking pointedly at me in the rear view mirror.

"You can't make me." I argued. "And you can't stop me from being a hunter."

"What do you think Dad would say if he heard you talking like this, right now?" Dean asked me. Dad wasn't happy at all when I said I wanted to be a hunter. I think Dad has different plans for me than he does with Dean and Sam. "You know there is no way in hell that Dad will ever let you become a hunter."

"Anna, being a hunter isn't all it's cracked up to be." Sam told me. "Besides, you're already eleven. You've seen what's it's like, you've lived the life of a hunter. It's not fun."

"I don't care what you say. I'm gonna be a hunter."

"Alright. Enough." Dean snapped. "Right now, you're going to school. You're gonna do your school work so that someday you can get into a good college. Now I don't want to hear another word about it."

~ . ~

Dean rented a motel room for me, and then him and Sam went out to go do some more checking around. I took the time to myself to take a nice bubble bath in the bathroom. I hadn't taken a bubble bath in a while. It's not like I couldn't take one with Dean around, but it was nice to have the motel room quiet and all to myself.

When I was done, I climbed into my bed and took my book out. It was the perfect time to read. I read until it got dark in the room and I had to turn the light on to see. I had made it almost halfway through the book at that point, and Dean and Sam were still out. I got my phone from my pants pocket, which I discarded after my bath on top of my duffel bag, and checked it to see if Dean or Sam-or even my Dad-texted me. Still, there was nothing.

I brought it over to bed with me, and turned the TV on, laying down. My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and soon, they closed. I was almost asleep when the door opened and Dean and Sam walked in. I flickered my lids open, but then they came back down, to heavy to stay.

When they realized I was sleeping-or what looked like it, they lowered their voices.

" . . . we're not bringing her with us, and I'm not going alone tomorrow. She'll be fine by herself for a few hours, Sam. Email her teacher tonight, and maybe by morning she'll send something back. She can do that while we're gone."

"Alright, fine." Sam said. I heard the springs of the bed next to me dip. The bottom of my bed dipped as Dean sat. He changed the channel on the tv and scooted up the bed so he could rest his back on the wall. I snuggled in closer to him, and soon, was asleep.

~ . ~

When I woke up the next morning, the motel room was empty. I sat up looking around. There was a note on the bedside table, so I picked it up and read it.

_Anna,_

_Went hiking with Haley to find her brother and Dad. There's money on the table for food. Order room service. Don't leave the room. You know the drill. Keep your phone on you. Call if you need anything_

_Dean_

_p.s. Sam printed out homework that your teacher sent. Do it._

I sighed, looking over at the table where there was a small stack of sheets. Great. All by myself for the day doing homework. I went over to the table and looked at the first sheet, then decided room service was in order.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

I ordered breakfast off the small menu of room service. There wasn't much. It was basically sandwiches, bagels, or salads. I ordered a turkey club sandwich, and when they brought it, they knocked and left it on the floor outside. I waited until they were gone to open the door and take it. I loved turkey club sandwiches. When I was six, I went through a phase where that was all I wanted to eat, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dad let me do it for a few days before he made me eat other food.

I had almost eaten all my sandwich when my phone started to ring. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked to see that Dean was calling me. I smiled a little before answering.

"Hi!"

"Hey, sweetheart. How you doing?"

"Good. I just got some breakfast."

"So you found my note?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Sam and I should be back sometime tonight. We're going up into the woods now so we're probably going to lose cell service. I want you to stay in the room and do your homework today, okay? I'm going to check to make sure it's done when we get back."

"But there's a lot of it! Do I have to do it all today?" I whined, looking over at the large stack of papers

"Yes. Today's perfect. You're stuck in a motel room with nothing to do. It'll only take a few hours at most"

"Alright." I sighed.

"_Alright." _Dean mimicked, and if he were standing in front of me, I would have stuck my tongue out at him. "Be good, okay? We'll see you soon. And if you absolutely need to get in touch with someone, call Bobby."

"Okay."

"I gotta go."

"Bye Dean. I love you."

"Love you too, kid."

I closed my phone and tossed it onto my bed, glaring at the pile of paper on the table for a moment before getting up and heading over to it.

~ . ~

When I finally finished with my homework, it was three in the afternoon. I hadn't heard from Dean or Sam since Dean called me, and I still hadn't heard from my dad either.

I stacked my papers back on the table, then walked over to the window looking outside. Our motel was right across the street from a playground, and there were a good amount of kids out there. Most of them were younger, but some of them were my age. I looking longingly at them, wishing that I could go out there and play with them, but Dean specifically told me to stay inside.

Maybe, if he knew the playground was only across the street, he would let me go.

I grabbed my phone up off the bed and dialed his number. It went straight to voice mail though and I sighed, disappointed. I looked around the room. I could watch tv, or read a book. I could take a nap, or a shower. Though, none of those seemed as appealing as going outside and playing with other kids.

Once again, I went over to the window. Maybe, I could go out there for a little bit. Dean and Sam said they wouldn't get back until later tonight, and what they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. I could bring my phone with me, and if I knew Dean-which I did-he would text me as soon as he got back into cell service, so I would know when he was on his way back, which would give me plenty of time to walk back across the street.

But then again, if they did find out, Dean would be really pissed at me, and I'd get a spanking for sure. But that was only if they found out, and how would they find out? If I told them, yes, but other than that? There really was no way.

I hesitated by the window for another moment, before running over to the bed, grabbing my phone, stuffing it in my pocket, then running outside.

~ . ~

It was easy to make friends with the group of kids my age. There were about eight of them, and they were playing soccer. They let me join in without any problems, and soon, I was sweating as I ran after the ball. I wasn't that good, because it wasn't often where I got to play these kind of games, except gym class in school. They didn't seem to care though. We played until the street lamps came on, and then the kids said that was their cue to go home. Also, the older kids were coming out now.

"Are you going to be here tomorrow?" one of the girls asked me.

"I don't know. My brothers are-here on business, and I think that we might be leaving in the morning."

"Oh," She said, disappointed. "Well, if you are here, we usually meet up every day. We only live down the street in that neighborhood," she pointed down the road. "so if you're still here, you should come and play again."

"Okay." I smiled.

"Bye!" she waved and ran off down the road after the other kids.

"Bye!" I called, watching her go. Maybe if Dean and Sam found Dad, I could convince them to stay here for me to go to school.

I turned and headed back to the motel room. When I turned to knob to the door, it didn't move. My heart seemed to drop out of my chest as I realized my key wasn't in my pocket. I ran back across the street, searching the field for my key. It was getting so dark though, that I couldn't see anything, and what felt like at least thirty minutes later, I still hadn't found it.

I ran back to my door, trying it once again, but nothing happened. For a moment, I stood in front of the door, feeling like I was having a mini heart attack. What would I do when they got home and saw me sitting outside the door? What would I tell them?

I tried the door again, then turned around, leaning against it for a moment, before an idea popped into my head.

"Oh." I said dumbly, straightening up. Maybe I should try going to the main desk to get another key.

I ran down the sidewalk to the main office and opened the door. There was an older man sitting behind it reading a newspaper.

"Excuse me," I said, going up to the counter. He lowered his news paper and looked at me over it. "I lost my key to my room when I went to the playground, can I have another one, please?"

"Where are your parents?" the man asked, grabbing a ring of keys off the wall.

"They're at work." I lied. "We're in town for a business meeting and they won't be back for a few hours."

"I only have two keys for each room, so I'll have to let you in with my master key."

I followed the man back to my room, and he opened the door for me.

"You should stay inside." He said. "The playground isn't a place for kids your age after dark. It get's taken over by those crazy teenagers."

"Yes sir." I said. "Thank you for letting me in."

He grumbled something in response and closed the door. I sat down on my bed, breathing a sigh of relief. That was close. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, but there were no messages or missed calls. It was almost eight thirty now. I tried calling Dean again, but it still went straight to his voice mail.

I called room service and ordered another sandwich. When they delivered it, I brought it inside, sitting at the end of my bed and turning the tv on. I would just stay up and wait for them to get home. Except they didn't.

One in the morning rolled around and they were still gone. I tried calling Sam and Dean's cellphones, and even Dads. His actually rang, unlike theirs, but it went to voice mail eventually. I didn't bother leaving a message. After trying each of them a few times, I laid down on the bed, wondering where they were and if they were okay.

I didn't wonder for very long before I had fallen asleep, and was soon being shaken awake by someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Anna. Hey, Anna, wake up." I rolled over, cracking my eyes open to see Dean looking down at me.

"Dean!" I yelped, my eyes flying open as I jumped up and threw my arms around him, nearly knocking him over as I did so. He was back, he was safe! "Where were you? You were gone all night, I thought something happened to you, I tried calling you like a hundred times!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. We got caught up hunting a wendigo."

"What's a wendigo?" I asked, pulling back to look at him.

"A nightmare." he told me. "We didn't find Dad, either."

"You didn't?" I asked, crestfallen.

"No. We think he's hunting something, but we're going to find him" he paused, looking from me to Sam, then back to me. "All three of us."

"You mean-Sam, you're staying? For good?"

"Yeah." He said. "I'm staying for good."

I smiled, running over to throw my arms around him.

"Beside, who else will make sure you keep up on your schooling?"

"Schooling?" I asked confused.

"Yeah. If we're going to be on the road all the time, you won't have time to attend real school, so you're going to be home schooled."

"Home schooled?" I asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Because you need an education." Dean said from across the room. "And we're not going to argue about it."

I didn't say anything.

"Alright, I'm going to go check us out, Sam why don't you guys get everything packed up into the Impala so we can get out of here."

Sam nodded.

"Anna, you got your key?"

I froze. My key.

"Uh. . ." I said, looking around.

"Well?" Dean pushed.

"I. . . I lost it." I said sheepishly.

"You lost it?" Dean looked at me through calculating eyes. "How did you lose it?"

"I-I think it fell into the radiator when I put it on the windowsill." I lied quickly. Dean raised an eyebrow at me.

"Really?" I nodded. "Alright." he said, shaking his head and heading to the door, opening it, and pausing before stepping out to say "Pack up."

He closed the door and I breathed a small sigh of relief, going over to my bag to start putting away what I had taken out. There wasn't much, and in less than a minute, I was ready to go.

"So what was a wendigo like?" I asked Sam as we headed out to the car.

"It was like a really tall, skinny goblin, with the best hunting skills anyone or anything has ever had."

"Ew." I said.

"Yeah." he agreed, popping the trunk open and tossing his bag inside of it. He took my bag from me and tossed it in too. I climbed into the backseat of the Impala and we waited for Dean, who came out a few moments later. He opened the door and slid into the car. He turned it on and pulled out of the parking lot.

"So, what else did you do yesterday?" he asked curiously.

I shrugged.

"Not much. Watched tv and stuff."

"Oh yeah? What kind of stuff?" he pushed.

"You know, just stuff. . ."

"You didn't do anything you weren't supposed to, did you?" he glanced back at me in the mirror, and his voice seemed to have that tone where he knew something I didn't. I shook my head, thinking about when I went to the playground. Did he know about that? He couldn't have. He was probably just doing this to try and get it out of me.

Dean pulled the car over and turned around to look at me.

"Are you lying to me?" He asked, looking me straight in the eye. "You didn't leave the room at all yesterday?"

I looked at him wide eyed, then shook my head. Dean raised an eyebrow at me, and that was when I knew he knew. I didn't know how, but he knew. I sighed and looked down into my lap.

"I went to the playground across the street." I mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Dean asked, putting his hand to his ear like he didn't hear me.

"I went to the playground across the street." I said a little louder.

"That's right!" Dean snapped loudly, startling not only me, but Sam as well. "I gave you a direct order, not to leave the motel room! You know how I feel about you going out by yourself in places I don't know. You know the rule about it too. If I haven't decided it's safe for you to be out on your own, then you don't go out!"

"That's not fair! I was doing homework all day, and it was crampy in that motel room! I didn't go far, I only went across the street!"

"To a park! Most child abductions happen at parks!"

"No one's going to abduct me!"

"You don't know that!" Dean argued. "But that's not the point. You disobeyed a direct order."

"Well you'll be glad to know that I at least thought about it!" I amazed myself with the audacity I had to say that. I mean, he was yelling at me the other day for running into situations without thinking, and for this one, I at least weighed the options and what could possibly happen. "I thought that's what you wanted, for me to think about things before I did it!"

Dean pointed his finger at me, but pursed his lips together as the tried to form what he was thinking into words. After a few moments of him pointing at me, he turned around and pulled away from the curb.

"You wait," he warned. "When we stop next you and I are going to have a nice long chat about following orders and lying." he glanced at me in the rear view. "Then we're going to have a whole other conversation about you being a smart ass."

"Fine!" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"And if you give me anymore attitude between now and when we get there, I'll just take care of this right on the side of the road. So if I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut for the next few hours."

I clenched my jaw, glaring out the window, but having enough common sense not to say anything back to him. I might have been feeling brave at the moment, but in the end, I knew where I was going to wind up, and it was only a matter of how long I wanted to be there for when it happened.

**Authors Note:**

**Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying my story so far! I'm so excited it's really starting to take off now! Can't wait to get through the next few chapters! It's going to get really interesting once they find John!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

For the next four hours I sat silently in the backseat. Sam had been making phone calls and planning the shipment of my course material and school books to Bobby's. I wanted to kick and scream, to tell them that I didn't want to be home schooled and it was the stupidest idea they'd ever had. But I didn't, because I knew I was already in loads of trouble with Dean. So instead, I glared out the window, rolling my eyes, with my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I didn't bother getting out to pee or get anything to eat when they stopped halfway at a rest area. I just shook my head when they asked if I wanted anything.

Dean got me a bottle of water and said if I wasn't going to eat then I at least needed to drink. I took the water and dropped it next to me on the seat. I could see him giving me a look out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it. I was mad at him.

We drove for another hour and a half before Dean pulled into the parking lot of some motel. The entire ride, I had been angry and stoic, but now, I was getting nervous. Not nervous enough though, because when Dean turned, getting ready to tell me to stay in the car, I opened my door and got out before he could say anything. I went straight to the trunk and popped it open, grabbing my back out, heaving it onto my back and then slamming the trunk shut. There, that would piss him off.

He got out his side of the car and closed his door much more gently than I closed the trunk, giving me a look over the roof of the car.

"Sam, you stay here with her." Dean said as Sam also slid out of the car. He nodded and Dean went off to rent a room. I glared at Sam who raised an eyebrow.

"Did I do something to piss you off?" he asked, walking around me to get to the trunk.

"I don't need to be home schooled." I huffed angrily, taking the opportunity of Dean being gone to try and reason with Sam.

"I think you're wrong." Sam replied, taking his and Dean's bags out of the trunk. I stomped my foot.

"No! I don't want to be home schooled. I'm going to be a hunter whether any of you like it or not!"

"Okay. Fine. But even hunters need basic education."

"Do not." I grumbled.

"Do too. Math helps your logic and problem solving skills evolve, which are an essential skill of being a hunter. Science helps with . . . making Molotov Cocktails."

"I don't need to do multiplication, or find the angle of X, so that I can be logical or solve problems better."

"Trust me, shrimp. You'll be thankful one day that we made you get an education. Even if it's only for the reason that someday, you don't want to be a hunter anymore, and decide to go to school."

"That'll never happen."

"My ass, that'll never happen." Dean said from behind me, making me jump. "What did I say about arguing our decision to home school you?"

"Not to." I ground out, hiking my backpack further onto my back.

"Right. And just because _Sammy_ is a softy, doesn't mean it's too late for him to start being a hard-ass. Because if this is how you're going to play us, I'm going to have a real long talk with Sam about being more strict with you. Is that what you want?"

I glared down at the ground, digging the toe of my shoe into the pavement.

"No."

"Then knock it off." Dean ordered firmly. "Here. Go put your stuff in room seven." He handed me a key and I took it, stomping off to room seven.

Dean was talking to Sam outside for a few minutes while I put my backpack in the room and used the bathroom so I could pee, because I really did have to pee at the last rest stop, I was just too stubborn to get out.

When Dean and Sam came back in, Sam took his laptop out of his bag and grabbed his phone charger.

"I'm going to run to the library to see what I can find out about this article." he said, heading to the door. I think he was leaving on purpose so that Dean could kill me in privacy. I laid down on the bed furthest from the door, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't long before Dean spoke.

"I'm going to run out and grab us some lunch. I want you to stay in here while I'm gone. I'll be five minutes."

I didn't say anything, so he left. He was right, wherever he went, it wasn't far. He came back five minutes later with two sandwiches.

"Come eat." He said.

"I don't want to."

"Did I ask you if you wanted to?" When I didn't say anything, he continued with, "I didn't think so. Now get over here and eat."

I trudged across the room and plopped down at the table across from him, unwrapping my sandwich. After a few moments of silence, Dean spoke again.

"So, were you planning on telling me that you went to the playground at all? Or were you just going to keep it a secret."

"I was going to keep it a secret." I stated bluntly. "It's not like anything bad happened. I actually had a lot of fun! I got to play soccer with a bunch of kids my age for a long time! It was what normal kids do! Isn't that what you want? For me to be normal?"

"That's not the point and you know it. You disobeyed a direct order."

"How did you even find out, anyway?" I asked angrily.

"When I went in to check out, I said that you misplaced your key, and he said that he already knew, because you came in asking him for another one after you lost it at the park across the street."

Oh.

"Well . . ." I started, but couldn't think of anything to say, so instead, I took another bite of my sandwich, which was surprisingly good. It was a turkey club.

"Yeah. That's what I thought. And don't give me this bullshit about how you don't think it was dangerous. You didn't know that area. You didn't know those kids. Something _could _have happened." Dean said darkly.

"But nothing did happen! You're just mad because I actually had fun for once!" I snapped, standing up. Dean raised an eyebrow at me and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Well, I hope it was worth it." He said darkly after a moment of silence.

I sat down heavily in my chair.

"It was." answered angrily, staring down at my sandwich.

"You've got ten minutes to eat, then I want to see you standing in the corner thinking about how all of this could have been avoided." he paused, looking at me from across the table. "I'm not happy with you, Susannah. Twice in the past few days you've landed yourself over my knee with your actions. You know better than this."

"Do I?" I muttered under my breath, picking the crust off my sandwich.

Dean leaned back in his chair and began eating his sandwich. I picked at mine, but didn't really have much of an appetite. It was hard to be hungry when you knew you were about to get tossed over someones knee. I picked the lettuce that was poking out of the sides off and nibbled on that, then slowly picked the crust off. I could feel Dean watching me, but I kept my gaze down at my plate.

After a few minutes of me just picking at my sandwich, I finally gave up. Pushing away from the table, I stalked over to the only empty corner in the room, feeling my cheeks redden. I hated being in the corner. I hated it more than being spanked. It was so embarrassing, and stupid. Why did parents (or siblings, in my case) tell kids to go stand in the corner and think about what they did? Especially before a spanking! There's no thinking about what I did wrong when I'm in the corner.

When Dean was finally ready for me, he called me over. Like always, he wasted no time in flipping me over his knee. I tried to remain stoic, and act like it didn't hurt, but after a good dozen swats I was squirming over his lap and soon enough, I threw my hand back and let out a yelp.

"Looks like I'm finally starting to get through to you." Dean said, then lifted me so I was standing in front of him, barely holding back the tears that had sprung to my eyes. "Drop your pants."

I should have known that was coming. I slowly reached for my pants and unbuttoned them, trying to give myself as much time as I could. When they were lowered to my knees Dean tossed me back over his lap, but the spanks he started delivering were much harder than before.

"Next time I tell you to do something, do it. Don't take five years doing it." To make his point, he landed two swats to my sit spot, and I yelped, bringing my legs up to protect them. Dean pushed them back down, and paused. "I better see a change in your attitude real quick, little girl. Because I've about had it with you. If this is how you're going to behave now that we're on the road, I'm going to take you straight to Bobby's and leave you with him."

"No!" I protested, kicking my foot on the ground. I'd been left at Bobby's before for two months and I hated it. Not that Bobby wasn't nice, but I wanted to be with my family.

"Then knock it off! I'm serious, Susannah. I want to have you with me as much as you want to be with me, but Sam and I have a job to do. If I can't trust you to behave, then I can't have you here."

I laid across his lap, taking in a deep breath as I tried to control myself. It didn't work out so well though, because as soon as I inhaled as much as I could, it all came back out in a wailing sob.

"That's what I though." I heard Dean mutter, before he began spanking once again. Dean really knew how to make a girl feel guilty. I felt terrible now, and sorry to boot.

"I'm sorry!" I wailed, burying my face in my hands as I cried. "I'll do better!"

Dean gave me a good last swat then straightened me up in front of him, looking at me seriously.

"You better." he said. "I'm not bluffing."

"I will! I will!" I cried, throwing my arms around him. I would be the most well behaved person in the world if it meant that I could stay with him instead of going to Bobby's. At least, I hoped I could.

**Authors Note:**

**Sorry for taking so long to update! I've been pretty busy lately. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long (or be so short). We'll be fast-forwarding to later on in Season one and start getting to the good stuff next chapter :) Hope you guys enjoyed this one!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

It had been several weeks since Sam, Dean, and I officially went on the road together. We were about just as close to finding Dad as we were when we first started looking for him. I had tried calling and texting him a few more times, but he never responded. I hadn't tried to contact him for at least two weeks.

I started having nightmares, kind of like the one I had about Dad when I first realized something was wrong. They began a few weeks ago, and happened almost every night. I would wake up in a cold sweat, heart racing with a scream caught in my throat, coming out only as a strangled noise. Sam and Dean both slept through it. Now that Sam was with us, I shared one of the beds with them. Most nights I slept with Dean. When I woke up from bad dreams, I would snuggle closer to him, and his arm would automatically find its way over me and pull me in closer to him. The nights when I woke up with Sam in bed, I would reach my foot out until it found his.

This week had been really bad. I couldn't even remember my dreams, just that they scared me. The past three nights I practically spent the entire night awake, curled up against Dean or lying beside Sam. Which, was why when I was woken up the next morning by Dean and Sam talking, I groaned and pulled the covers angrily over my head. They paused in their talking, before picking up where they left off.

"Can't you go talk somewhere else?" I huffed, pulling my pillow over my head too. The only problem with that, was it made it difficult to breathe, and I was forced to remove it. Dean's cellphone rang loudly.

"It's ten in the morning." Dean said. "You should be getting up anyway."

Ten. That meant I had been sleeping for about four hours. That also meant, Sam and Dean had been up for probably two hours. I groaned and lowered the covers from my head, squinting in the sunlight that streamed through the window right onto my bed.

"Where the hell is my cell-phone?" Dean said as he rummaged through one of his bags.

"Which one?" I asked. "You have like, twenty."

He ignored that and pulled the one he was looking for out of his duffel bag and flipped it open. He looked at it for a moment before looking over at Sam, a strange expression on his face.

"It's coordinated." He said and Sam's brows came together.

"You think it's from Dad?"

"He's sent us coordinates before."

"Did he say anything else?" I piped up, crawling to the bottom of my bed and kneeling. Dean shook his head, going over to his laptop and typing.

"The coordinates point to Rockford, Illinois."

Dean and Sam shared a look. I knew what that look meant. Road trip.

~ . ~

We got to Rockford in a few hours. Sam re-read the newspaper article that Dean had found on the way there, and even figured out where to find the friend cop of the cop that killed himself. He was at a bar in town, so Sam and Dean came up with this plan to get him to talk to them. Dean was going to act as a reporter and ask the cop questions, then Sam would go in all hero-like and tell him to get lost, and hopefully, become buddy-buddy with the cop and get information out of him. My job was to stay in the car and work on my assignments.

"Why can't I go in?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot. "I'll sit at a different table!" I'd been trying to get my brothers to bring me along with them when they interviewed people so that I could learn how they did it. I was trying to sneakily learn how to be a hunter. But so far, it wasn't working that well.

"Yeah, an eleven year old girl sitting by herself in a bar won't look suspicious at all." Dean said from the front seat, and I could see him roll his eyes in the rear view mirror. "I won't be long in there then I'll be back out here and we're going to wait for Sam."

"Besides, you're behind on your assignments this week." Sam reminded me. Because I had been getting very little sleep, I hadn't been working that hard on my homework. I would space out, or fall asleep, or just be too irritated to do it. "You have three sheets of math problems to get through, and then you have history and science to do, so it looks like you'll be working on Friday."

Sam planned my schedule so that I would only have to do work Monday through Thursday. I usually did two subjects a day and then I would have three days where I wouldn't have to do homework. It looked like this week would be a full week.

"Yeah, and you know what happens if you don't have all your work done by Friday night." Dean reminded me. They made a deal with me—well, I didn't really agree to it, but I had no choice—that if all my work wasn't done by Friday night, that Saturday I would have to write an essay on why my assignments weren't done, how I could have made it so that they were done, and why I won't do that again in the future.

"I know." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and sinking down into the seat. There had to be an easier way to get them to let me in on what they did. "Hey, I have an idea." I said, sitting up in my seat. "How about if I do all my schoolwork when I'm supposed to, you teach me some stuff about-"

"No." Dean said before I could even finish.

"But you didn't let me finish!" I complained.

"Yeah, well I can already see where this is going." He replied. "And the answer is no. We're not teaching you how to be a hunter."

"But you let me do research with you!"

"That's different." He said.

"How?"

"Because knowing what's out there, as opposed to not knowing, is a better way to keep you safe. You know the signs and what to look for so you can avoid situations where you could get hurt."

I leaned back in my seat, tears, springing into my eyes.

"When we find Dad, I'm going to ask him to teach me how to hunt! He'll do it!"

"He won't and you know it." Dean put the car in park and turned in his seat to look at me. "Anna, you won't understand this until you're older and have children of your own, but you wouldn't want this life for them either. As long as I'm still living, I will keep you as far away from this life as possible."

With that said, Dean and Sam both got out of the car and headed to the bar. I flung myself down onto the backseat, crying from self-pity. The worse part about that conversation was that Dean didn't even get mad at me. He was just loving and caring, and guilt tripped me.

I didn't cry for long before I sat up, wiping my face. Crying didn't make me feel any better. So I got my schoolwork out and began doing math problems. That didn't make me feel any better either.

I made it through several math problems before Dean came out to the car.

"How you doing?" he asked, peering over the backseat. I shrugged. "Well, it looks like Sam and I are going to be gone most of the night tonight."

"Okay."

"I figured we could stop at the movie rental place and grab you a few DVDS."

This caught my attention. I looked up from my work with a smile on my face.

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I want you to keep working hard on that homework until Sam gets out here."

"Okay!" I agreed, putting my attention back on my homework. I worked on it until Sam came out, and Dean looked through Dad's journal some more. When Sam opened the door and got in, Dean asked him what he found out. Sam repeated what he heard from the cop.

"Alright. So we'll head over after dinner." Dean said, turning the car on. He started driving off down the road.

"Done!" I sang, holding the three papers over the seat so that Sam could look them over and make sure they were satisfactory.

"See, that only took you what, a little more than an hour?" Sam said. "I don't know why you had such a hard time with it the past few days."

"Can we go get movies now?" I asked Dean, avoiding Sam's question.

When we got to the movie rental store, I practically ran inside. Dean came in a few moments after with Sam, but I was already lost in the aisles of movies. I went straight to the action aisle and looked for the movies that seemed to have the most shooting and killing in them. I picked out three movies, and then to cover my tracks, picked out a Disney movie as well.

I found Dean and held out my movies to him. He took them, shuffling through all of them before looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"This is what you want?" he asked, and I nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay." he shrugged, heading over to the counter with them.

Dean found a motel that was closest to the Asylum, and rented a room there. I went into the bathroom to shower, while Dean started getting all their guns ready. Sam ordered Chinese. I could smell it as I got out of the shower, and it made my stomach rumble. I quickly dried off then went out into the main room where Sam and Dean were eating.

"Mhm, Chinese!" I said, smiling as I plopped down at the table. Dean had made a plate up for me so I wasted no time in digging in.

We ate in silence for a little, which I didn't mind. I was starving.

"We're going to have Bobby call in and check on you tonight."

I looked up from my plate at Dean. Ever since they left me over night when they were in the woods hunting the Wendigo, they would have Bobby call me at random intervals on the phone to make sure I was staying in the room.

"Okay."

"And I want you to work on your science tonight for a little bit." he added.

"But-"

"Anna." He warned, and I shut my mouth. "You don't have to finish it, just start it and get a chunk of it done so you don't have to tomorrow."

"Okay." I sighed.

Dean stood up and threw away his plate and empty containers.

"Ready, Sam?"

Sam nodded, shoveling the last few forkfuls of food into his mouth before getting up and throwing it away. Dean gathered their bags and placed them by the door.

"Are you going to be gone until morning?" I asked.

"Hopefully we'll only be out half the night. But how often does that ever go the way we planned."

"Will you call me if you can? You know, just so I can say goodnight?"

"Sure. If we can." Dean smiled, coming over to place a kiss on my head. "Be good."

Sam came over and kissed my head as well.

"See ya, Shrimp."

"Bye." I waved after them. I watched them get in the car out the window and drive away. As soon as they were gone, I went over to my movies and popped one into the DVD player. I sat down on the bed and began watching intently. Every time they used guns, I made sure to remember what they were doing with them. If Dean and Sam weren't going to teach me how to hunt, I was going to teach myself.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

After I watched the first two movies, it was already ten at night. Bobby called me right as the second one finished. I did a backwards roll across the bed to reach the bedside table with the phone on it. The first time he called, I asked why he didn't just call my cellphone, and he said how would he know if I really was in the room if he didn't call the room phone. I guess that made sense.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid."

"Hi, Bobby."

"You behaving?"

"Yes, Bobby."

"Alright. I'll call back in a little bit."

"Okay. Bye, Bobby."

"Bye."

And that was that. Bobby never really said much when he called to check on me. Sometimes we would chat for a little bit, but he was usually pretty busy, and I didn't really have anything to say. I hadn't actually seen Bobby in person since I was almost nine.

With the two movies over, I was at a loss for what to do. I knew I should do some homework because Dean told me to, but I wanted to keep looking up stuff about guns. The only problem with that was I watched both movies, and the only thing I could do now was internet research. But I didn't want Sam to know what I was looking up on his laptop.

So I decided that I better just start my homework.

I worked on my homework for a while before my cellphone starting ringing. The screen showed Dean's name, so I flipped it open.

"I gotta make this quick, sweetheart. How you doing?"

"I'm good. I'm working on my science."

"Good girl. Why don't you work on it a little bit longer then tuck yourself into bed?"

"Okay. Are you and Sam okay"

"Yeah. Sam and I had to split up, but I'm going to find him now. We'll see you tomorrow. Love you, kid"

"I love you too, Dean. Bye"

When I hung up my phone I looked longingly at it for a moment before putting it back down on the table. One day, I would be hunting with them, not sitting in a motel room waiting. I didn't care what they said. I would be a hunter.

~ . ~

I woke up when the door opened and Dean and Sam shuffled in. The sky was getting lighter outside, which meant it was probably very early in the morning still. I rolled over and watched as Dean placed his bag on the floor, and Sam headed towards the bathroom.

"Damn, Sam. I'm going to be feeling this for a while." Dean mumbled.

"Feeling what?" I asked, my voice croaking with sleep. Dean straightened up and looked over in my direction.

"Hey, sweetheart." He said, heading over. He sat down next to me on the bed. "Did we wake you up?"

"Feeling what, Dean?" I asked again.

"Nothing. I just got a bruise that's all." he answered, pushing the hair back from my face. "Why don't you try to go back to sleep. It's still really early."

"Are you coming to bed?"

"Yeah, I'll be in in a minute."

I snuggled back down into the blankets, feeling better now that Sam and Dean were home. I was almost asleep when I felt Dean slide in next to me. I rolled over, snuggling up next to him, throwing my arm over his chest. He winced, immediately moving my arm so that it was across his stomach. That must have been where he got his bruise, I thought briefly as I continued to settle into sleep.

~ . ~

I woke up before Dean and Sam the next morning. I didn't want to wake them up, so I went over to the table and worked on my assignments. I knew Sam and Dean would be happy to see me working on it when they woke up. I worked on it for about an hour before the lump under the blankets that was Sam, started to stir.

He groaned and rolled over, his feet protruding from under the blanket and arms reaching out from the top as he stretched. I put my pencil down on the table and ran over to the bed, jumping on top it him.

"Ouf!" he groaned as I grinned down at him, bouncing up and down.

"Good morning!"

"Morning." he said back, yawning and looking over at the clock on the bedside table. It was ten thirty. "Ughh."

"So how was the hunt?"

"It was a hunt." he shrugged.

"Why did you hurt Dean?"

"It was an accident."

"What did you do?"

Sam raised an eyebrow at me.

"Can I wake up before we start playing twenty questions?"

"Only if you bring me to get breakfast."

He looked at me for a moment before a smile spread on his lips.

"Alright, fine."

~ . ~

Sam and I went out to get breakfast and brought it back to the room. When we arrived, Dean was awake watching the news. I smiled and ran over to him with the bag of donuts that I had. We went to Dunkin Donuts down the street, and got some bagels and doughnuts.

"Dean, I got your favorite!" I sang, shaking the bag as I jumped onto the bed. He reached out and grabbed me around the waist, tossing me across his lap so that I was cradled in his arms.

"Oh really?" He teased, digging his fingers into my side. I gasped as he tickled me, and thrashed, knocking him in the chest. He stopped tickling me immediately, and I could see the silent groan on his face. I offered up his doughnut to him in apology. He took it, then winked at me and knocked me off his lap so that I rolled to the floor.

I stuck my tongue out and went over to the table where Sam put my bagel, opened the bag, and took a big bite out of it. I was starving.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked, putting my feet up on the table. Sam reached over and knocked them off, giving me a look.

"Well, Sam and I are going to run out and check up on those kids that were at the Asylum last night, just to make sure everything is okay with them, and then we're going to head out."

"Can I come?" I asked.

"No. You can stay here and finish those assignments you started." Dean gestured to the assignments I started this morning while they were still sleeping. I scowled at my bagel, but didn't argue.

"How were your movies?" Sam asked. I shrugged.

"They were okay."

"I didn't know you were into those kind of movies."

"You don't know a lot of things, Sam." I said, my words coming out harsher than I meant them to. I didn't hold the fact that Sam had been gone against him anymore. I felt bad when he looked away, jaw clenched. "I didn't mean it like that, Sam. I meant-I just meant. . . Well you know. You really haven't been around much, and. . . I've changed, is all."

"I know. I understand." Sam said, turning back to look at me, offering a smile.

I ate the rest of my bagel in silence. Sam ate his while Dean showered. When he was done, he put his shoes on and stood besides me, looking at Sam.

"You ready to go, Sam?"

"Yeah." Sam got up from the table, closing his laptop.

"We'll be be back in about thirty minutes." Dean told me. "You know the drill."

"Yes, Dean."

The two of them left, closing the door behind them. Once again, I watched them out the window as they got into the car and left. I was getting to used to watching them go.

With a sigh, I turned around and made my way to the bathroom, but stopped in my tracks. A bag that wasn't on the floor before caught my eye. It wasn't just any bag, either. It was the bag that held all the guns in it. I looked at the bag, then back at the window. The car was gone. Sam and Dean were gone. But the bag of guns was here.

Thoughts began racing through my mind. Thoughts that I should have ignored, knowing they were probably a bad idea. But I couldn't help it. When would I ever get the opportunity to hold a gun, much less open the bag and look at them. Slowly, I walked over to the bag, glancing back towards the window, before kneeling down next to it. Gingerly, I reached out for the zipper, pulling it back with my thumb and forefinger.

When it was fully open, I pulled the sides back. There were several different types of guns in it. The biggest was a shotgun, about as long as the bag. That one caught my attention. That was the gun that had the rock salt in it. One time, Dean actually let me help him make the bullets for it. I stood up quick to look out the window, and saw they were still gone, before crouching back down.

I reached into the bag and pulled it out so that I was holding it in my hands. I smiled, running my hand down the barrel. It was really smooth, and the metal was cool. I ran my hand over the handle. Holding it made me want to shoot it. But it was loud, and it would probably attract attention. I could just pretend to shoot it though.

I took the safety off, and pumped the forestock. I held it up, aiming at the wall, squinting down the barrel. So this was what it was like to hold a gun. I felt like I was holding something that was really powerful. It was kind of heavy, which made my aim dip up and down slightly as I tried to steady it. I aimed it up at the wall and pretended to pull the trigger.

"Bam!" I said, "You're dead."

"Anna!" An angry, extremely stern voice boomed out behind me, and I jumped. I was so startled that I spun around, and in the process, my finger pulled the trigger. The gun went off, and I was thrown backwards. Just like Dean.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The sound of the blast echoed in the room, making my ears ring. I had hit my head against the wall when I was thrown back, making my vision double and sway for a few moments, before it came back together. My gun had fallen out of my hands on the way down, and I could hear Dean yell in pain. Now, he was laying motionless on the ground.

I was getting shakily to my feet, supporting myself on the wall when Sam came charging in the room. He looked around as though expecting to see some other type of danger, because when his eyes fell on Dean, then me, I could see him put two and two together. The shock on his face was enough to make my eyes tear up immediately, but as soon as he said,

"Did you just-" without even finishing, I had burst into tears.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" I wailed. "It was an accident, I was only pretending!"

Dean, who hadn't moved or said anything since I pulled the trigger, groaned on the floor, rolling to his side and propping himself up on his elbow.

"Pretending to be who? God damn Annie Oakley?" he snapped, pain lacing his voice. Sam looked from Dean to me, like he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I'm sorry!" I cried, hugging my body.

Sam stalked towards me and I backed up reflexively. He didn't follow me though. Instead, he stooped down to pick up the gun. He clicked the safety back on and then put it back into the bag, zipping it closed.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Dean demanded. "You know weapons are off limits!"

"I'm sorry!" I didn't know what else to say. I was in shock. I had just shot my brother. I could have killed him. Heck, if I aimed a little higher, I probably would have.

"Sorry is not an answer!" Dean replied with a serious look on his face. "You could have killed me! You could have hurt yourself, or worse, you could have hurt an innocent person! So you better tell me right now what the hell you were thinking, little girl!"

I sank to the floor, burying my face into my hands. I couldn't tell him. He would be so mad-not that he wasn't already mad. He would probably send me to Bobby's, and most likely with an extremely sore backside.

Dean groaned, and I could hear him moving. Footsteps went past me, then the sink in the bathroom was turned on. I peered through my tear soaked fingers and saw Dean sitting on the bed with his shirt off. His chest was deeply bruised, and peppered with blood and rock salt. My breath hitched and I whimpered at the sight of what I had done, making Dean look over at me.

"You see this?" he gestured to his chest. "These are the consequences to your actions."

I don't think I've ever felt so bad in my life. I was beyond being able to convey how bad I felt, and how sorry I was.

"I'm sorry!" I wailed again as Sam walked past me again, this time with a wet towel for Dean, who held it to his chest. Sam stood next to him, looking at me.

"Sorry is no where near good enough. Not for this." Dean said. "And I'm still waiting for you to explain yourself.

I buried my face in my hands again, shaking my head. He was going to hate me now. How could he love me after I shot him.

Hands forced themselves under my armpits, and suddenly I was being lifted up off the floor. Dean sat me down on the bed, putting both hands on either side of my legs with his face close to mine, forcing me to look at him.

"Explain. Now."

My breath hitched in my throat.

"I just-I just wanted to try it." I sobbed.

"Try what? Killing someone?"

"No!" I wailed defensively.

"Why in the world would you need to even touch a gun?"

"I don't-"

"Don't you dare say it." Dean growled. "I swear, if you say 'I don't know', I'm going to take you over my knee until you do, and until I get the full story out of you. And then, after that, I'll keep you over my knee for the spanking you know you got coming. Understand me?"

"Y-yes, Dean!"

"Good. Now, I want answers."

"I was t-trying to teach myself how to use a gun." I stammered.

"Why." he demanded, and when I hesitated a little too long, he reached for my arms.

"Because I want to be a hunter!" I said quickly. "It's not fair that you won't let me chose my own life! You and Sam got to be hunters-"

"Sam and I didn't have a choice!" Dean yelled, making me jump. Boy, he was pissed. "Sam and I, wouldn't have chosen this life if it wasn't forced on us!"

"I should be able to choose!"

"You can choose to be whatever you want, but it won't be a hunter! Especially not now! You're clearly not responsible enough to even use a gun!"

I looked down into my lap, tears sliding down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. All I wanted to do was hug Dean. I was so scared that I had killed him, and so shaken up, that all I wanted to do was just be reassured that everything was okay. I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Dean pursed his lips, then nodded his head, looking away.

"Yeah. I'm going to make sure of that." he stood up and wiped his hand down his face. "Go stand in the corner."

I slid off the bed and trudged to the corner, resting my head against the wall.

"I'm going to clean myself up. Keep your nose in the corner. Sam is going to be watching you."

He went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. I kept my head against the wall, looking down at my feet, tears dripping off my chin and landing on the carpet.

I really, _really _regretted even thinking about taking out the gun now.

I must have been in the corner for at least fifteen minutes before Dean came out of the bathroom. I was tempted to turn around to see him, but I knew I was already in enough trouble.

I could hear Sam and Dean whispering to each other, then the door to the room opened and closed. Dean must have sent Sam out.

"Susannah." Dean said my full name and I trembled. "Come here."

I slowly turned around, regarding him wearily as I made my way over. He looked sternly at me the entire way, until I came to a stop in front of him. He was sitting on the bed again and had on a clean shirt.

"I want you to tell me exactly what happened once we left. Don't leave out anything. I want to know what you did and what you were thinking when you did it."

I looked down at my hands, picking at the skin around my fingernails.

"Look at me." Dean said as I opened my mouth to start. I put my hands down by my side and looked up at him.

"I was going to go to the bathroom, and then I saw the bag. I knew that you rarely ever leave the bag in the room when your not there and that if I wanted to try using the guns, I wouldn't have another chance anytime soon. So I opened it and took the gun out. I aimed it at the wall and then you came in."

"What about the safety?"

"I took it off."

"And the forestock?"

"I pumped it."

"So, if you were just pretending, why on earth did you take the safety off? And more importantly, why would you pump it?"

"I don't know." I said, before I could even realize that I had said it. My eyes went wide, but before I could correct myself, I was over Dean's lap and he was laying down swat after swat on my backside, and they weren't gentle warm up swats either. They were the kind he used when he was really trying to get me to remember my lesson.

I shrieked and buried my face into the cover on the bed.

"What did I say?" Dean asked, slowing down, but keeping a steady pace.

"That I can't say I don't know!" I hiccuped.

"So answer my question. Why would you pump it if you were only pretending?"

"Because . . . because . . . I was trying to teach myself how to use it!"

Dean landed two particularly painful swats to my sit-spots then lifted me to my feet, holding my arms.

"I hope it was worth it, because this is _never,_ going to happen again. Am I clear?"

I nodded, sniffling.

"Verbal answer."

"Yes, Dean."

"We have rules for you for a reason, Susannah. To keep you-and other people-safe. It's one thing when you break a rule and put yourself in danger, but to break a rule and put other people in danger is just as, if not more, unacceptable."

"I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it." Dean interrupted, shaking his head. "You broke our rule about weapons, you put yourself in danger, you put other people in danger, and you went behind my back to do it. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

I shook my head.

"Like I can't trust you."

My breath caught in my throat and I looked at him with pleading, tearful eyes. He looked back at me for a few silent moments, and I wished I knew what he was thinking.

"Last time you put yourself in danger, I told you I was going to bring you to Bobby's."

That was it.

"No, Dean, please! Please, I promise I won't ever do it again! I'll be good, I'll do whatever you want! Please, don't send me to Bobby's, I want to be with you!" I had thrown my arms around him, forgetting that I just shot him in the chest, but he didn't push me away. I was crying hard now. Dean let me plead with him for a few moments until I had nothing left to say, and just stood there, wrapped around him, crying. Then he pushed me back to my feet so he could look into my eyes. I was a mess. I had tears and snot running down my face.

"Because we're getting close to finding Dad, I'm going to give you the chance to change my mind. For the next few weeks you are grounded. No privileges. You're going to do exactly as your told, when you're told, and if you give me-or Sam-any trouble, you can bet your ass I'll be bringing you directly to Bobby. You're lucky I'm being this nice right now. I should be dragging your ass to Bobby's right now for what you just pulled. So consider yourself lucky."

"Yes, Dean."

I felt so relieved, even if this wasn't over yet. At least I knew he wasn't going to send me to Bobby's.

"Alright. Now I want you to go back to the corner. While you're there, I want you to think about a punishment you think you deserve. Not a spanking, because you're going to get one of those when Sam get's back."

"Where is Sam?" I asked in a tiny, hesitant voice.

"I sent him out to get something." Dean said, then pointed to the corner. "Go."

I turned around and headed back to the corner, resting my head against the wall.

"Stand up straight." Dean said. I straightened up.

I stood there for quite a while. I could hear Dean moving around. I tried to think of a punishment I thought I deserved. I was already getting a spanking, so what else was there? I didn't really have anything to be taken away. I only had a phone. I had some books, but I hadn't really been reading them lately. I'd only been reading my school books. I watched tv when we were in the motel room, but I didn't really care that much about tv and Dean knew that. I wouldn't care either way if I had it. There really was nothing they could take away from me that would make me sorry that I did something. But I was sorry I did it already.

The door to the room opened and closed. I heard the sound of a shopping bag rustling around, and the low voices of Sam and Dean. The door opened and then closed once more.

"Anna." I turned around. Dean was sitting on the bed again, and he had something in his hands. "Come here."

I walked over, and as I got closer, I realized that what he was holding, was a hairbrush. A wooden hairbrush.

"So, what did you come up with?" he asked when I came to a stop in front of him.

"I really don't know." I said. "I don't have anything for you to take away, and I don't watch tv."

"Then think of something you'll do this next week. Something that'll happen every day."

I thought hard. What didn't I like to do, besides homework, that would please Dean and make me miserable?

"I don't know." I shrugged helplessly.

"How about this. If you don't take responsibility and think of something, I'll think of something for you. And that'll be a spanking every night before bed."

Well, that certainly wasn't what I wanted.

"Umm." I said, trying to think. "I. . . I. . .What if I wrote lines?" I asked.

"And what would those lines say"

"Uhh . . . I won't break rules?"

"How about, I won't put myself or others in danger, and I will follow the rules set forth to keep me safe?"

That was a long line. But it was either that, or spankings every night.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Two hundred times a day, for the next seven days."

"Two hundred?"

"Would you rather it be three?"

"No." I whispered, looking down at my feet.

"Then it's two hundred."

"Okay."

"Now, you understand why you're going to get a spanking? Or do we still need to talk about it?"

"I understand." I mumbled. Dean put his hand under my chin and forced me to look at him.

"I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in you."

Tears welled in my eyes and my throat ached. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in myself either.

"This spanking isn't going to be the only spanking you get today. You're going to get one tonight, but that'll be for a different reason."

I was getting two spankings? Wow. I really messed up. He couldn't even punish me for it all at once.

Dean placed the brush next to him on the bed, then reached out and pulled me over his lap. I buried my face into the sheet, crying silently as I prepared myself.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Dean spanked me over my jeans for what felt like ages. I cried into the bedsheets, because that was all I could do. It was pointless to say I was sorry. I had said it so many times already. Besides, Dean didn't want to hear it. In his eyes, I wouldn't be sorry until I was punished.

I was stood up after I felt like my butt was going to fall off, and Dean told me to pull my pants down. I did as I was told, but not before wiping my nose with the back of my arm. With my shorts down and only my underwear to protect me, I was tilted back over his lap. As soon as he started, my cries turned into yelps and I began squirming over his lap.

"Ow! Dean! I'm sorry!" My pleas fell on deaf ears though. Dean was determined to make me remember this lesson.

"This is for going behind my back to do something you weren't allowed to do and breaking my trust in you."

I cried and begged until I felt as though I was going to die. Was that possible? To die from a spanking? I wasn't sure, but I sure felt like it was. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Dean's hand came to rest on my back. It was like an instant relief and I could breathe again, but the fire that he built in my butt still roared.

"I don't ever want you to do something like that again, am I clear?" Dean said as I lay sobbing into the covers.

"Y-yes, Dean." I answered. There went my hopes of ever being a hunter. For some reason, that made me cry a little bit harder.

Dean set me back on my feet and I hastily pulled my jeans back up, then stood apprehensively in front of him. Now what? Was I allowed to hug him? Would he want me to hug him? Or would he rather me leave him alone? After all, I just shot him.

I didn't have to wonder for very long though, because he pulled me into him, cradling my head with a hand and rubbing my back with the other. I could tell he was still upset with me, though.

"I'm sorry, Dean." I whispered, my throat aching once again. "I'm so sorry."

"I know."

"Do you hate me?" I asked in a small voice.

"I could never hate you, Anna." Dean told me firmly. "I might be disappointed in you sometimes, but I will never hate you."

"Even after I almost killed you?"

"Even if you managed to kill me."

I stayed in Dean's arm for a long time. I knew I wasn't out of the water yet, but finally being able to hug him and feel the comfort of his arms around me was the biggest relief.

When Sam came back, I had just finished putting all my stuff away in my backpack. Dean wasted no time in getting us in the car and on the road. He drove with a set look to his face, and I couldn't help but shrink down in the backseat. I still felt incredibly guilty.

~ . ~

We drove for four hours until we came to another town. Dean was tired from only getting a few hours of sleep, so when we got into our room, he told me to sit down at the table and do my assignments while he took a nap. Sam sat down at the table with me and opened his laptop to do some research. I worked on my assignments for an hour before I sat back and looked over at Sam. He hasn't tried to say anything to me since this morning.

"Sam?" I asked tentatively.

"Mhm?" he grunted, not looking up from his laptop.

"Are you-Are you mad at me?"

He looked up from his laptop this time and I could see the gears grinding in his head as he tried to plan out how to respond to me.

"No." he said after a while. "I'm not mad."

"Then, why haven't you said anything to me since. . . you know." I said slowly.

Sam leaned back in his chair, his eyes searching me. "I don't know." He finally said after a few moments hesitation. "I guess I've just been in shock. I don't really know what to say."

"Oh." I looked back down at my paper and twirled my pen around my fingers. I could feel his gaze on me, so I went back to work.

~ . ~

I had finished my assignments for the week by the time Dean had woken up again a few hours later. He rolled over and groaned, and I knew it was in pain because he winced and his hand went to his chest, but didn't touch it. I bit my bottom lip and looked away. There was no way that I could ever forgive myself for doing this to him.

"Ugh." he sat up and ran a hand through his hair, looking over at Sam. "Find anything?"

Sam shook his head and Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there, rubbing his face for a few moments.

"Something will come up." he said after a while, then got to his feet, tossing the blankets off himself. "You guys hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little." Sam replied. I shrugged. I wasn't really feeling much of anything. Just dread and guilt.

"I think I'm going to order some pizza."

"Okay."

Dean went over to his bag and pulled his phone out, using the phone book to call a local pizza place. I watched him, gnawing on my bottom lip as I did so. He looked over my way and I quickly looked down at the table. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time he ordered the pizza, and then once he hung up, his feet appeared on the ground by the table.

"How are you assignments coming?" he asked.

"They're all done." I replied. He raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Good. You can start your lines now."

I sighed miserably. I had just finished with hours of homework, and now I had to do more work. Though, I wasn't going to complain. I knew I was on thin ice and I didn't care to go over Dean's knee any time soon. Especially since I knew I would be going over it later tonight.

Without arguing, I pulled out my notebook and sharpened my pencil. I knew if the lines weren't perfect, Dean would make me do them over again. That's what Dad did. If my lines weren't perfect, I had to do them all over again.

Thinking about Dad made my stomach hurt. I missed him so much, and wished he were here so I could curl up in his arms. Though, if he were here, he'd probably spank me too.

When the pizza finally arrived, I had about fifty lines written. I still had a lot more to go though.

"You can put that away, now." Dean said. I wasted no time in putting it away, waiting for Dean to give me a plate for pizza. No one talked much during dinner. Dean concentrated on his food, and Sam was still on his laptop looking things up.

After dinner, Sam closed his laptop and stood up. I knew what he was about to do. He was going to leave the room so that Dean and I could have some privacy. Sam never used to leave the room when I got spanked. I think that was because when I was little things were different. We were closer, and I was young, so my nakedness to them wasn't a problem. Now that I was older, and we weren't as close, he thought privacy would be better for both of us. I mean, it was embarrassing when my pants were pulled down. Especially if my underwear were down too.

"I'll be back later." Sam said to Dean, before gathering his stuff and leaving. I sat there, my stomach hurting more now. I suddenly wished I hadn't eaten so much pizza.

I waited as Dean finished up eating. He sat in his chair, leaning back and looking at me.

"Why don't you go take a shower and put your pj's on." he said after a moment. I nodded, getting up to follow his directions.

I took a long shower, using up most of the hot water. I was stalling, and Dean probably knew it, but when I exited the bathroom, he didn't say anything expect,

"Go stand in the corner."

I obeyed. I only stood there for a few minutes, before Dean called me over to him. I turned around and saw him sitting in the bed with the brush that Sam had gotten earlier that day. A small gasp escaped my lips as I looked at it, then to Dean with wide eyes. My faltered slightly in my steps, but pushed myself to go forward. I could already feel tears burning in the backs of my eyes.

"Anna, if I spanked you earlier for breaking my trust and going behind my back, what do you think this spanking is for?"

I wish he would have asked me that before he sent me to the corner so that I could at least think about it, instead of stand in front of him with no clue.

"Uh," I said, trying to break the silence so it looked like I was thinking. "I-I. . . for putting myself in danger?" I took a wild guess.

"Yes. And not only yourself, but who else?"

"Other people."

"You know your safety is a high priority to us, but we also take other people's safety seriously too. Or else we wouldn't be doing this job."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't say you're sorry. I know you're sorry. But you're still going to be punished for what you did."

A tear slid down my cheek.

"Yes, Dean." I said softly, looking down at my feet. I did deserve this spanking and I knew it. Though, I wished it didn't have to be with that hairbrush. I'd never been spanked with a hairbrush before, but I've heard stories and boy does it sound like they hurt.

"So you understand why you're getting this?" Dean asked, and I nodded, then added a verbal 'yes' to that. "Alright. Come here, then."

Dean pulled me across his lap and wasted no time in starting a fire over the seat of my pajama shorts.

"Oh! Ow! Dean, please!" My bottom was still sore from the spanking I received earlier. I didn't know how I was going to make it through a hair brushing if I couldn't make it through a hand spanking over my shorts. "Ooh, it hurts so bad!"

Dean didn't say anything, but just kept spanking. My feet kicked up, but his leg was quick to pin my legs down. I grabbed the covers in my fists, pushing torso up.

"Lay down, Anna." Dean warned, delivering a sharp smack to my sit spot. I laid back down with a gasp.

Dean spanked me for what felt like ages, but was probably only a minute or so, before I felt his fingers slide into the elastic of my shorts and undies, swiftly pulling both down to my knees.

I buried my face into the bed, knowing what was coming next. Tears leaked out of my shut eyes when Dean rested the wood of the brush against my flaming butt.

"Please, Dean. I'm so sorry!" I whimpered.

"I know." He replied, then sharply brought the brush down on my sit spot. I cried out. Boy that really stung! He targeted my other sit spot, than began alternating back and forth. He was relentless, only smacking me on my sit spots. He wanted to be sure I felt this for a while.

I kicked and cried, throwing my hand back, but he pinned it on my lower back. I wailed, blubbering nonsense of how sorry I was and that I couldn't take it. He still didn't stop.

"I don't ever, want to catch you doing something so dangerous again. You could have seriously hurt someone, worse than you did to me. You could have killed yourself! Your life is to precious for ignorance like that, do you understand me?"

"Y-yes!" I wailed, my breath hitching.

"You'll be starting your lines tomorrow for a week."

"Y-yes, sir." I hiccuped.

"And your behavior will be nothing but angelic, right?"

"Yes!"

"Because you know where you'll be heading if it isn't?"

"Yes!"

"Good."

Two smacks to each sit spot and he was done. I laid sobbing over his lap as he let me catch my breath. His hand rubbed soothing circles on my lower back.

"I love you, Anna." He said in a soft voice, much different than the one he had just been using. It made me cry harder. "I know you made a mistake, and you've paid for it. I'm not mad at you."

I pushed myself up so that I was standing and threw my arms around him. He closed me tightly in a hug, rocking gently.

"I'm so sorry, Dean." I said. "I wish I could take this day back and do it over."

"What do I always say about making mistakes?" Dean asked me, pulling back to look me in the face.

"Live and learn." I replied, wiping my nose with the back of my hand.

"Right. If you didn't do it today, you might have done it some other day. At least now you learned your lesson about it without seriously injuring someone."

I leaned in again for another hug, mumbling a 'yeah' in agreement. Dean rubbed my back some more, than after a few moment gently patted my burning bottom and said,

"Let's get you in bed."

I pulled back, looking at the clock.

"But, it's only seven." I said confused.

"I know." Dean replied. "It's early bed for you tonight."

"Oh." I said. Dean grabbed my shorts which were still around me knees and pulled them gently up to cover my aching backside. He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead lovingly, then stood up, pulling the covers down. I resigned myself to the bed, laying on my side.

"I love you, sweetheart." he said.

"I love you too, Dean."

He leaned forward to give me one last kiss and hug, before getting up. I laid there, and after a few moments, realized that I was actually pretty tired. So tired, that I fell asleep before Sam got back.

**Authors Note: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to update! I promise I haven't given up on the story. I've just been really busy with work and school and haven't had much time to write. It might be a little while in between posts, since I'm in a summer course that's a semester's worth of stuff shoved into six weeks, but hopefully by July I'll be updating regularly again! Thanks for all your support and reviews, I really appreciate them!**

**GEW**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

After my little incident-well, it was more like a huge incident-with the shotgun, I had made sure to be on my best behavior. I knew that Dean was serious about sending me to Bobby's if I caused anymore trouble, and I really didn't want to go. I wrote my lines, biting back the complaints I wanted to voice every now and then. I pretty much spent all day long writing lines, and it got to the point where I was dreaming of writing lines. Though, it was better dreaming of lines than having those dreams about Dad.

We still hadn't found any good leads on where Dad was. The longer it took to find him though, the more Dean's bruises started to fade, and the less likely it would be that Dad found out about me shooting Dean. He wouldn't be happy to hear about that. Though, I knew he wouldn't spank me for it. He said he would never spank me for the same thing Dean already spanked me for, but that didn't mean he couldn't find something different to spank me for. . . like not following through on my deal to behave for Dean when he was away.

I looked up from my notebook, where I was supposed to be doing my math homework, but had spaced out. We were driving along a road and next to me in the distance were huge mountains capped with snow.

"Whoa!" I breathed, putting my hand against the window and leaning closer to it. "Dean, look! It's so beautiful!"

Dean turned his head to look towards the mountains, and the corner of his mouth pulled back in a smirk.

"You like that?"

"I love it." They were so tall, almost up in the clouds. I bet it would take days to climb to the top of the tallest one. "Can we go hiking someday?"

"Hiking?" Dean repeated. "Why would we go hiking?"

"Because it's nature, and it's beautiful! Don't you ever just want to get away from life and get lost in nature?" I was still staring mesmerized at the mountains. "It would be so fun to go camping, just the four of us." We never did anything normal like that. Sometimes I just wanted to do normal things like that. If we ever found Dad, maybe he would bring us someday.

"Maybe someday." Dean shrugged. I bet he was just saying that to make me happy. Dean wasn't really into camping. Sam didn't mind, and I knew that Dad liked it.

"Where are we going, again?" I asked, pulling my gaze away from the window as a group of trees began flying by, blocking my view.

"We're going up this mountain, straight ahead."

I leaned over in the seat to look past Dean's head. Sure enough, there was a small mountain looming in front of us. It was just as beautiful as the ones that were hiding behind the trees beside me, but it was much smaller, nearly half their size.

"We're looking for a man named Daniel Elkins."

I hadn't heard anything about where we were going or why we were going there. Dean woke me up from my sleep in the morning and told me that we had to go, and that I could fall back asleep in the car. I gathered my things in a sleepy state, then once I got in the car, passed right out again.

"Is he important?"

"Yeah. We think so." Dean replied. "How's your homework coming?"

"Uh, good." I said, looking down at my barely completed math problems. Sam glanced over the back of the seat at me, and I attempted to cover up my notebook without be obvious. He raised an eye brow at me and I bit my bottom lip sheepishly. "It's a work in progress."

"As long as it's done by tonight. You've only got two more hours left."

Dean realized a while ago that if they told me to 'get it done by tonight' I would 'assume' that meant I had until midnight, which would keep me up later. So before I could pull that move more than once, he set a limit. I had until seven o'clock every night to finish all my work for the day. If it wasn't finished at seven, then instead of going to bed at nine, I would have to go to bed then. I only did that once before I realized how bad that sucked.

They were really trying hard to keep me on a schedule. Awake by nine at the latest in the morning (if we weren't leaving to go somewhere) and asleep by nine at night.

"Okay." I bent down over my book and got to work. I didn't want to go to bed early tonight. Especially not since I was actually in the car with them as they went to investigate someone. It wasn't that often any more I was allowed to be in the car with them. Dean was starting to get more strict about me going with them.

Since I went behind his back and tried to teach myself how to hunt, he's been keeping me away from anything supernatural.

~ . ~

We pulled up to a log cabin an hour later and dark had fallen. There was snow falling gently from the trees where Dean parked the car. I had recently finished my last math problem, and Sam was checking over my work in the front seat. He always checked it over right away to make sure I did it right.

"Wow. These problems are all right." Sam said, closing the note book and handing it back to me. "You see what happens when you put your mind to something? Your homework has been much better lately."

It wasn't really like I had a choice, I wanted to say back, but bit my lip, taking the notebook back and putting it in my back pack.

"So does that mean I can come with you?" I chanced asking.

"No. You're going to stay out here." Dean stated firmly. I stuck my bottom lip out but didn't argue. "Lock the doors and don't make a scene. If there's anyone or anything out there, I don't want attention drawn to you. If you see anything, anything at all, you get down and you call me. Got it?"

"Yes, Dean."

"Good."

Him and Sam slid out of the car and I reached into the front seat and locked the doors. I took my phone out of my pocket and began to play tetris. That helped keep me busy until Sam and Dean were tapping on the windows again.

"Did you find anything?" I asked once I unlocked the doors and they slid in.

"Yeah. A post office box location and combination." Dean answered.

"Are we going there?"

"Yes."

"What do you think is there?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you think it's something important?"

"I Would think so."

"So-"

"Anna." Dean cut me off, turning around to look at me. "Please, stop with the twenty questions."

I sucked in my bottom lip and looked up at him through my lashes.

"Sorry."

He turned back around and started the car. As he backed up and began driving back down the drive, I did a double take into the woods, thinking that I saw the shadow of someone moving, but couldn't quite tell. It looked like a person almost, but it I wasn't sure at all whether or not I really saw it.

We drove into the nearest town and Dean stopped in front of a post office. He went inside while I stayed in the car with Sam. He was gone for a few minutes, before he returned, carrying one envelope. He opened the door and slid in. I had moved up front with Sam, so now I was between the two of them.

Dean held the envelope out so that Sam could see what was written on it. We looked at it.

J.W. was written on the front. I looked up to Sam, who was looking at Dean.

"J.W? You think. . .? Could it be?" He asked, and I looked over to Dean, then back to Sam.

"I don't know." Dean replied. "Should we open it."

A loud rapping noise sounded on the window and I screamed. Dean jumped and turned, raising his arm reflexively with his fist clenched, and Sam's arm went around me pulling me into him protectively. I could see the shape of a person in the window, and as I focused in on it, Dean said

"Dad?"

My heart jumped in my chest as the backdoor opened and Dad climbed into the car. Tears sprang to my eyes when I saw the smile on his face, the one I knew formed from watching us all jump.

"Dad!" I breathed, my voice croaking with emotion. I threw myself over the seat into his lap, hugging him around the neck. "Daddy?"

"Hey, baby." He said gently into my hair, resting one hand on my back and the other on my head.

I couldn't believe it. Out of no where, with no warning or sign, Dad showed up like he knew we would be here the entire time.

"Dad what are you doing here? Are you alright?" Sam voiced my thoughts out loud.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I read the news about Daniel, I got here as fast as I could. I saw you two at his place." Dad began carding his hand through my hair as he answered Sam's question.

"You came for a dead friend but you haven't even bothered to text me or call me back?" I wailed indignantly.

"Anna," I could tell by his tone he was going to start with some explanation that I didn't want to hear.

"I've missed you so much!" I whimpered, pulling back to look him in the eyes. He looked back at me with a sorrow that was forcibly held back. "I dreamed about you almost every night. I thought something was wrong. I thought you might be in danger."

"We're always in danger." He reminded me gently.

"Especially when you leave us without telling us where you're going or when we'll see you again!"

"I don't expect you to understand why I did what I did," he said to me. "Not right now, anyway."

I leaned forward again, burying my face back in his warm neck. It felt so good to be in his arms again. Tears were still gently falling from my eyes, as I gripped tightly to him.

"You came all the way here for some Elkin's guy?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. He was...he was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting"

"Well you never mentioned him to us." Sam replied.

"We had a...we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years." The hand on my back was lifted, and then the one on my head was too, and the sound of ripping paper sounded by my head. "If you're reading this, I'm already dead'...that son of a bitch."

"What is it?" Dean asked, and I could hear him shuffling in the front seat.

"He had it the whole time."

"Had what?" Sam asked.

I closed my eyes, tuning Sam, and Dean, and even Dad out. I rested my head on his chest, right under his neck where his heart was beating strongly in my ear. When he spoke it vibrated against my head. It had been a long time since I had felt the beat of his heart against my head. The warmth that always seemed to radiate off his body, and his strong calloused hands rubbing gently circles on my back.

It was still early in the evening, but a sudden wave of exhaustion came over me. I was so comfortable that all I wanted to do was sleep now. Safe and warm in his arms.

"Anna."

I was shifted from his lap onto the seat and my eyes flew open immediately, my arms reaching out to grab him, afraid he was disappearing from me.

"Dad!" I gasped, grasping at him.

"Calm down," he soothed, putting a hand on my face as I focused on him and became more aware of what was going on. "We're going to find a motel and meet up there-"

"I want to go with you!" I said immediately, inching towards him. I wasn't going to let him get away again. If he was going to leave, I was going with him.

"Alright." He said, sliding out of the car. I followed him, grabbing for his hand as soon as I was out. I couldn't have him near me and not be touching. I missed him too much. "I'll follow you two." Dad said to Sam and Dean, who nodded and rolled his window up.

Dad's truck wasn't parked too far away. It was just as big as ever. When Dad gave Dean the Impala a few years ago, Dad got his truck. When he first got it, I was too small to get in it on my own. But now I was able to climb up into it without any trouble. I slid right over to the middle seat so when Dad slid in I was right next to him. He looked down and smiled at me, turning the truck on.

"I missed you." he said as he pulled away from the curb and up behind Dean, flashing his lights to let him know he was ready. Dean pulled away and Dad began following him. I leaned in against him and he put an arm around my shoulder.

"I missed you more." I replied, my tone a sounding whiney, even though I didn't really mean for it too, but I couldn't help it.

"Have you been good for your brothers?"

"Y-yeah." I stammered, thrown off guard. I should have known he was going to ask me that question.

"That doesn't sound to reassuring."

"I-I mean, I've been pretty good." I shrugged. Dad grunted, but gave me a little squeeze.

"We'll talk about it later, then." he assured me. I didn't argue. I leaned my head against him and just basked in the moment of being next to him. I didn't know how long I would be next to him before he went away again. Right now, this was all I wanted.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

The rumbling of the truck was oddly comforting as we followed Sam and Dean down the road. After spending so much time riding in the Impala, which compared to the truck was quiet and smooth, it seemed especially loud and rocky, enough to almost put me to sleep.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, baby?" hearing him say that was almost enough to make me want to cry. I had missed hearing him say that.

"Why wouldn't you answer my calls? Or text me back?"

"I wanted to, believe me. But it was safer for all of us for me not to."

"Oh. Daddy?"

He chuckled, glancing over at me.

"Since when have I been 'daddy' again?"

I hadn't called him that in a long time. He had been just 'dad' for years now, unless I was in trouble or wanted something. But now I couldn't help but call him 'daddy' every time I talked to him.

"I just missed you a lot." I answered. "It feels better to call you that . . . and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to call you anything for a while." tears found there way into my eyes. "I was scared you were dead! Or that something really bad happened to you! You know, you'd think after your children lost their mothers, you'd be a little more concerned about sticking around!"

I didn't know where it came from, and I never even planned on saying that to him, even when I was mad at him for leaving. It shocked me as much as it shocked him. Luckily, we had just pulled into the motel parking lot. Maybe it was unlucky, because he put the car in park and looked over at me. I closed my mouth and looked wearily at him.

My door opened as Dean came up to the car. He started to say something, then stopped.

"What?"

Great. I hadn't even been with him for that long and my big fat mouth was already getting me into trouble. Not knowing what else to do, and feeling like I just needed to breathe, I quickly unbuckled and jumped down from my seat, pushing past Dean and running to the end of the motel where there was a wooden bench against the wall.

"Anna!" Dean called after me. I sank down onto the bench and buried my face into my hands.

Though I never meant to say that, the fact that it came out was starting to make me feel more like I really did mean it. It wasn't right or fair that my dad went away like that, leaving us with nothing to go on, just coordinates that he occasionally sent. What if something happened to him and we didn't know where he was? What if something happened to us? He was our father. He was supposed to be there for us. Fathers don't just leave their children.

He was upset when Sam left, saying that Sam should know better and that family sticks together, but he was no better than Sam by going off like that. Sam left and that damaged our relationship. I didn't want that to happen with Dad too.

Footsteps approached, but I kept my face in my hands. Whoever it was would know I was crying. Not by the obvious running away, but because my shoulders were shaking with sobs.

A warm arm made it's way around my shoulder and pulled me against their body. I knew the way Dean's body felt. This wasn't Dean, and it was too slim to be Dad. I peered out through my fingers and recognized the legs and lower torso of Sam. Sam?

I was so surprised that it was Sam who came over, that I took my hands away from my face and looked up at him, confused.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. Now it was Sam's turn to look confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I just-I thought that it would have been Dad or Dean to come over and you know, yell at me or something."

"Yell at you?" Sam repeated. "Why would they yell at you?"

"Because I said something terrible. Then I ran away." wasn't it obvious?

"Anna, you're not in trouble." Sam informed me gently. "Dad isn't mad at you, and neither is Dean. In fact, they both understand exactly how you feel. So do I, that's why I'm over here and not them."

"How do you know?"

"Because not too long ago I was on the receiving end of your resentment."

"Oh."

"You know, you're not the only one who is feeling it this time. Dean and I are both upset with Dad for just vanishing like that. We both know exactly how you feel. We've all been stressed out and worried about him, so it's just natural to be a little angry when he strolls out of no where and acts like nothing happened, right?"

"I guess." I replied.

"And scared." he added. "I know you are scared."

"Was." I clarified, then hesitated. "and still am, I guess. What if he goes away again? What if one day he goes away and doesn't come back?"

"It won't happen." Sam stated firmly. "Dad's a fighter."

I reached up and wiped my face with the back of my hands. He was right. Dad was a fighter. I don't think there's anything out there that could hurt Dad. He's tougher than nails. Being reminded of that made me feel a little better.

"So, he's not mad at me for what I said in the car?"

"No. I think what you said to him just-surprised him. You wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you were right." he winked conspiratorially at me, then stood up, offering his hand to me. "Come on. They've got a room, and it's getting late."

I took Sam's hand and let him lead me back to our room. His hand was so big that it practically ate mine. I'd never been spanked by Sam, and I didn't think I ever would be, but I really hoped that was the case, because his hand was probably bigger than my whole butt!

Dad was sitting at the table when we walked in, and Dean was in the bathroom taking a shower. Sam went over to one of the beds and opened his backpack, pulling out his laptop. I stood awkwardly by the door for a moment, before walking slowly over to Dad. He looked up from his laptop when I got closer.

"I'm sorry I said that to you." I said, glancing down at my feet. Dad leaned back in his chair, regarding me with an interested look.

"When did you grow up so fast?" he asked, and I looked up.

"What do you mean?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Before, getting you to apologize for anything was like pulling teeth. A lot of screaming and crying-mostly on your part." he opened his arms and I walked into them, sighing into him with relief. "Thank you for the apology."

I snuggled against him, content to enjoy the moment without saying anything else. It wasn't too long though, before Dean came out of the shower.

"Anna Lee, time to get ready for bed, kiddo." My lips formed into a pout, but I didn't move. I didn't want to. Couldn't Dean just let me stay up a little bit later tonight? Dad's arm which were around my back, holding onto me as I sat facing him with my legs straddling his chair, loosened, then a hand tapped my bottom.

"You heard him." Dad said. "Why the bed time?"

I slid off his lap and went over to my duffel bag at the end of one of the beds. I didn't say anything, until Dean prompted me with,

"Do you want to tell him, or should I?"

I paused, then turned around to look at them.

"Now?" I asked. "But it's late. . ."

"Tell me what?" Dad asked. "How you've been 'pretty good'?" he quoted me.

"It was an accident." I whispered. Yes, Dean was going to make me do this now.

"Uh oh. This sounds like it's going to be a good one."

"Go on. Tell him. He's going to find out sooner or later. Might as well tell him now."

"But you can't punish me for it!" I practically begged. "Dean already did!"

"You know I won't spank you for the same thing twice."

"Do I have to?" I whined. "Can't I tell him tomorrow?"

"If you don't want to, I will." Dean reiterated.

"I accidentally shot Dean with rock salt . . . because I was trying to teach myself how to use a gun so I could become a hunter."

It seemed like the silence after I said that as he took in what I said lasted forever. I almost started to get worried, when he finally said something.

"If I didn't tell you that I wouldn't punish you for the same thing twice, then you could bet your ass I would be hauling you over my lap right now. What in the world were you thinking? I can't believe you would do something like that! You know how we feel about you becoming a hunter! Would you have tried something like that if I was home? I bet not, because you know I would bust your ass so good you wouldn't be able to sit for a month!"

I sat there looking at my feet, letting him yell. Once he seemed to have gotten it all out, I glanced back up through my lashes. Dean was standing there with his arms over his chest and feet apart. He raised an eye brow at him, and I could feel my shoulders drop.

"I learned my lesson and I'll never do something so dangerous again." I said, my voice low.

"Damn straight you won't. Because then, I might break my rule about punishing you twice."

"Yes, sir." I could feel tears leaking out of my eyes and dripping down my cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"If you're going to pull this kind of shit when I'm gone, maybe I'll start making Dean report your behavior to me. You know, when I was a kid, if you got spanked in school, you could be damn sure you'd get spanked at home. Maybe I'll start applying that to you. If you get spanked by Dean, you get spanked by me too! Will that get you to start making better choices?"

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't going to say 'yes it would but I really don't want you to do that'. So I didn't say anything. I sat there, staring at my feet, a hot flush covering my face as tears slid slowly down.

"When I leave and tell you to mind your brother, I mean it."

"Yes, sir."

There was pause. I really hoped he didn't decide to spank me for not minding Dean. I hadn't been spanked since that incident, and I would like to keep it that way.

"You know, you kids are going to be the death of me." he finally said. "Get over here."

I got up from the bed and padded over until i was in reaching distance. He took my hand and pulled me into him for a hug, then pulled back to place a kiss on my forehead.

"Don't do something so reckless again? Understand?"

"Yes, sir." I nodded.

"Alright. Go get into bed."

Quick to follow orders, I went back to my bag and pulled out my pajamas, then went into the bathroom to change, brush my hair, and teeth. When I came back out, Sam was asleep in the bed beside me and Dean had changed into his sweats. I climbed into bed, looking over at Dad.

"Daddy?"

"I'll be right over, baby." he said, knowing exactly what I was going to ask. I leaned back against my pillow and smiled. He came over after a few minutes, pulling the blankets up to my chest, and kissing my head. "Sweet dreams. I love you."

"Love you more." I whispered with a smile, then turned onto my side, closing my eyes. I fell asleep and for once, didn't have a single nightmare since he left.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

The next day I woke up to an empty room as Dad, Sam, and Dean went out to find vampires. I did my homework like a good little girl, eager to show Dad that I could follow directions and please him. I didn't even think about leaving the room or doing anything I wasn't supposed to.

They came back in the middle of the day, but Dean was sent on an errand to find dead man's blood. Sam looked over the work I did while they were gone, before getting up and pacing the room. When he told Dad that he thought Dean was taking to long and something was wrong, Dad just told him that Dean was fine and would handle it.

Then Dad started talking to Sam about how he never meant for things to turn out the way they did, and the reason he was so mad at Sam for leaving, was because he was scared. Scared because he wouldn't be able to watch over him and keep him safe. He even told Sam that he started a college fund for him when he was a baby, but ended up spending it on amo. They laughed at that.

When I asked Dad if I had a college fund, he said yes, and it was still going strong, because he expected me to go to college and make something of myself. I held back the argument that rose in my throat, knowing that having that discussion with Dad, wouldn't end as well as if I had it with Dean.

When Dean got back, they went out again to finish off the vampires. It was weird to think that vampires were actually real. I remembered watching Dracula when I was nine, without Dad's permission, and lying awake for a week straight in bed with the covers pulled up to my neck. It wasn't long before they found out, and Dean told me there was no such thing as vampires. Guess he was wrong.

While they were gone, Dean let me get onto Sam's laptop and play games. I knew that I couldn't try to research anything, because Sam could check the history, and he set it up some parental type of spyware so that he could monitor everything I did. So I just played games until they got back, which wasn't until after dark.

~ . ~

I woke up with Dad talking. As I became more aware of what was going on, I heard him say something about a demon coming out of hibernation. I laid still, keeping my eyes closed so I could listen. I wasn't sure how much of what he was saying to them he would let me hear if I was awake.

"It's going after families . . . just like it went after us. The night of the kids sixth month birthday."

"I was six months old that night?" Sam piped up.

"Exactly six months." Dad confirmed. I never really heard Sam, or any of them for that matter, talk about what happened when their Mom was killed. All I knew, was that it was some sort of demon that did it, and that had devoted their whole lives to trying to kill it. When the shifter killed my mother, Dad tracked it down and killed it within a few days. But the demon he had been hunting was much harder to find.

My attention was brought back to them when Sam shouted, "Right. It's not my fault, but it's my problem!"

That was when I opened my eyes to look to see what was going on. Dean saw me, and so did Dad. He stood up, holding his hand out to Sam to calm him down.

"There are signs. It took me a while to see the pattern but it's there in the days, before these fires signs crop up in an area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms . . . and then I went back and checked, and . . ."

"These things happened in Lawrence."

Dad nodded.

"A week before your mother died, and in Palo Alto . . . before Jessica. And these signs, they're starting again."

"Where?" Sam asked, glancing to Dean, then back to Dad.

"Salvation, Iowa." Dad replied.

I groaned. I knew what that meant. Road trip.

I didn't even have time to throw my covers off myself before Dean turned to me and said, "Get up and get moving, kiddo."

"I'm going." I grumbled, getting out of bed. I trudged to the bathroom and Dad ruffled my already messy hair on the way by. I ducked out of his reach. I didn't need any more snarls in my hair, that was for sure. It did a fine job itself.

I took about five minutes in the bathroom getting ready. Sam and Dean packed up everything while Dad did one last check through his notes. When we were heading out into the cars, I immediately made my way to Dad's truck. I wanted to ride with him. It would make the drive less miserable.

I slid up into the passenger seat, waiting for him. Dean turned the Impala on. I looked out the window at him, and after a moment of my gaze on the side of his head, he turned to look at me. I smiled, then stuck my tongue out at him playfully. He made a weird face back at me and I giggled. Sam leaned forward in his seat so that he could see me past Dean, then put two fingers up behind Dean's head. I laughed harder and Dean raised an eyebrow, then turned his head. Sam quickly removed his fingers, giving Dean an innocent look.

I could only see part of Dean's face, but I was sure he was giving Sam a suspicious look.

The driver side door opened and Dad appeared beside me.

"All right, let's hit the road." He said, turning the key in the ignition. I sat facing forward and put my seat belt across me.

"How far away is Salvation?" I asked as we pulled out onto the main road.

"About eleven hours of driving, less if we avoid traffic."

"Eleven?" I proclaimed, then shrunk down into my seat. "I wish cars could fly." That would be so much faster. We'd be able to get around much quicker. We wouldn't spend so much time on the road, and probably would be able to spend more time together . . . or saving people.

"Yup. Eleven long hours." I could feel his gaze shift to me. "Eleven long hours to talk about your behavior."

"I said I was sorry!" I practically whined it at him, putting my phone down in my lap. I was getting it out to play tetris, but I guess that now wasn't the right time. "What more is there to talk about?"

"Watch that tone, little girl." Dad warned. "Don't make this into something it doesn't have to be."

I crossed my arms over my chest, letting out a deep breath.

"You have been with Dean on the road for quite some time. I know that Dean has his rules and ways he does things. However, that doesn't mean you aren't expected to behave the way _I _expect you to behave, even when I'm gone—and you know exactly how I expect you to behave."

"I know . . ."

"Just to be sure, why don't you tell me how you're expected to behave."

"Dad," I whined, but he cut me off with a look. Maybe riding with him wasn't such a great idea. "Fine. When I'm told to do something, I do it without talking back. I'm respectful to my elders—which also includes the general population," I had been spanked before for being rude to a girl not much older than me before. "I keep myself out of danger, or if in a dangerous situation, do what would be the most safe."

"And?" he prompted. And? What else was there? Obedience, respect, safety—oh.

"Don't tell lies."

"That's right. You should be following all four of those rules no matter who you are with. I was serious last night when I said if you don't start shaping up, I'll make Dean report to me. And believe me, you do not want that. You think my spankings hurt now, just wait and see how they feel on an already sore bottom."

I looked down into my lap, heat rising in my cheeks. I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to think about getting spanked at all. It really had been a while since I last got spanked. Almost a few weeks.

"I know things were probably a little bit easier when you were staying in the same place for school, but now that you're on the road, you're going to have to try a little harder to keep yourself out of trouble. You definitely have the Winchester's trouble making gene in you, but you better keep it under control."

"I try." I sighed exasperated

"I know you do, baby." Dad said, his voice more gentle than I expected. His right hand came off the steering wheel and settled on my leg. "It just doesn't help that your genetically more inclined to blow off the rules, and being on the road twenty four seven doesn't help either."

I placed my hand on his and looked out the window.

~ . ~

Dad got a call on his phone as we were driving down the road, getting closer to Salvation. I had my head resting against the window, trying to sleep. You'd think that sitting, doing nothing in a car for hours on end wouldn't make you tired, but it sure did.

"Shit." Dad spat, and the truck pulled to the side of the road, making me bump my head against the glass. I opened my eyes, startled, rubbing my head. Before I could ask what was going on, Dad opened the door and got out. I reached down to open my door but it was still locked. I fumbled, trying to find the button to unlock it for a moment, before I was able to slide out of the truck, still rubbing my head.

"Jim Murphy is dead. His throat's been slashed. Caleb called me to let me know. He found sulfur in Jim's place."

"Jim? As in pastor Jim?" I asked, coming around the backside of the truck. Dad's gaze flickered to me briefly, before continuing.

"I don't know what or who did it. Maybe he slipped up. Maybe the demon knows were close."

"So what do we do now?" Dean asked.

"Now we act like every second counts. There's two hospitals and a health centre in this county. We split up, cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's going to be six months old in the next week."

"Dad, that could be a dozen kids, how do we know which is the right one?" Sam asked.

"Well check em all, that's how. You got any better ideas?" There was a little bite to Dad's tone, and Sam shook his head.

"Is anyone going to answer me?" I piped in. "Pastor Jim is dead?"

I had been to see pastor Jim a few times. When Dad was on a particularly nasty hunt in the area, he left me there once or twice. He was a really nice guy, and always had cookies for me.

"Let's go." Dad said, turned back to the car. I looked over to Dean, whose jaw was clenched. He barely looked at me, then turned with Sam to go back into the Impala. I quickly ran back to my side and got in.

"Dad?" I prompted.

"Yes, Anna. Pastor Jim is dead." He said, his voice tight. I knew that Dad had a good relationship with Pastor Jim. He was like family to him. Dad trusted him more than anyone else not in the family. And now he was dead.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, wishing that there was something I could do. I knew though that nothing would help. Not until Dad got the revenge he wanted against Pastor Jim. An uncomfortable feeling rose in the pit of my stomach. I had a feeling that this was only the beginning.

**Hey everyone. I know my story is following the Supernatural storyline pretty close right now (probably to the point where it's a little boring), but I promise that it's getting to the big finale, and the sequel will stray from the story line to my own individual idea! So hang in there! The best is yet to come! **

**GEW**


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